I'm a native British English speaker and I was wondering the other day whether, as a result of the influence of AmE, I am now more likely to use the simple past in instances where say 20 years ago I would use the perfect.
For example if I was leaving the house with some one I might say either 'Did you turn the heating off?' or 'Have you turned the heating off?'. However I wonder if the former would have sounded off when I was younger, as in standard BrE it is usual to use the perfect to refer to an action in the past that is relevant to the present moment. Has my brain has undergone a gradual shift as a result of listening to American TV and films, so that I do not realise that there has been a subtle change in the way I speak, or have both tenses always been standard BrE? I really can't be sure.
For example if I was leaving the house with some one I might say either 'Did you turn the heating off?' or 'Have you turned the heating off?'. However I wonder if the former would have sounded off when I was younger, as in standard BrE it is usual to use the perfect to refer to an action in the past that is relevant to the present moment. Has my brain has undergone a gradual shift as a result of listening to American TV and films, so that I do not realise that there has been a subtle change in the way I speak, or have both tenses always been standard BrE? I really can't be sure.