One Stop English has published an article by Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield on recognizing grammatical differences between American and British English.
Here's the Introduction: Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense (have/has + past participle) far less than speakers of British English.
In spoken American English it is very common to use the simple past tense
as an alternative in situations where the present perfect would usually have been used in British English. The two situations where this is especially likely are:
(i) In sentences which talk about an action in the past that has an effect in the present:
American English / British English
- Jenny feels ill. She ate too much.
- Jenny feels ill. She's eaten too much.
- I can't find my keys. Did you see them anywhere?
- I can't find my keys. Have you seen them anywhere?
(ii) In sentences which contain the words already, just or yet:
American English / British English
- A: Are they going to the show tonight?
- B: No. They already saw it.
- A: Are they going to the show tonight?
- B: No. They've already seen it.
- A: Is Samantha here?
- B: No, she just left.
- A: Is Samantha here?
- B: No, she's just left.
- A: Can I borrow your book?
- B: No, I didn't read it yet.
- A: Can I borrow your book?
- B: No, I haven't read it yet.
To read more, click on the following links:
1. Verb agreement with collective nouns | 2. Use of delexical verbs have and take | 3. Use of auxiliaries and modals | 4. Use of prepositions | 5. Past tense forms | 6. Implications for teaching
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