Has taken or took

Hi everybody 


Where's my wallet? It was on the table. Somebody has taken it.

 

 

Where's my wallet? It was on the table. Somebody took it.

  

what is the difference btween them in the meaning?

 

Which is more correct grammatically?

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  • both are grammatically correct. But if we want to show that it has just happened, we usually use, has/have + past participle verb. eg: has + taken=has taken. If we use, "somebody took it".It means like somebody took it a long time ago:)

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    • I agree -- saying "someone has taken it!" would be natural if you had just discovered the loss. You would use "someone took it" if you were telling the story later.

       

      And a point about conversational English: 

      I understand that we are using this sentence as an example only, but if you find yourself in this situation it would not be polite to say "someone took it!" right off the bat*. That would sound a little hysterical*, as if you were accusing the other people in the room. You might want to say something like "Has anyone seen my wallet? It was right here on the table. I hope no one took it!" That would show that you are a bit worried but willing to believe that it was not stolen -- maybe it just fell on the floor. Also by saying "I hope no one took it" you would not be accusing anyone directly. 

      The difference is in the reaction you would get from others. If you say 'I hope no one took it..." instead of "someone took it!", the people around you are much more likely to help you look for your wallet! 

       

      *Idiom meaning right away, quickly, the very first thing that happens. 

      *Hysterical: too emotional for the situation, esp. in fear and anxiety. Hysterical can also describe something that is very funny: "That joke was so hysterical, I fell over laughing!", 

  • the explanation is very clear..thank you
  • It is very important know when use taken and took
  • Thank you Nafis , Ravi  and Josef for your clear explanation.

    and thank you Noon for you topic

  • Iwill thank  you very much because this is what I need
  • I think-

    Somebody has taken it.

    this is a PP tense.

    And-

    Somebody took it.

    This is a Past Indefinite tense.

    Both sentences are correct.

    But as wallet is one object, so I prefer to use 'someone' instead of 'somebody'.

     

    Thank you

  • In both the tenses, simple past and present perfect, we talk about past action. In simple past, we tell the time and in present perfect the present position of the same past action. The choice of one tense and not the other depends on what we want to say.Would you read my blog TIME TENSE AND MEANING?
  • Dear Noon , Both are correct but has taken is more appropriate because we use present perfect in the action happened in the past but consequences are still in the present time.
  • Thank you so much my friends. I'm glad that explanation was helpful. And, thank you so much dear Josef for the information.
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