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Situation: At 12.30 I have my lunch. At 3.00 O'clock someone is going to ask me wheather I had my lunch or not, which one of the following is correct in this situation-
-Have you eaten your lunch?
-Did you eat your lunch?
Reply
Both are correct.
Have you eaten your lunch? is more common when the intent is to have lunch together at 3 if he hasn't eaten his lunch yet. That's because "Have you eaten?" is more likely to be used when you are currently in a situation that may change depending on the answer. This is called "current relevance".
Did you eat your lunch? is more common when there is no current relevance. Maybe you talked to this person earlier and he said he was going to have lunch soon and would meet you later -- at 3. So you expect that he had lunch by the time he met you at 3, and you're just verifying that he ate his lunch, not expecting to do anything as a result of his having or not having lunch.
englishforums.com
-Have you eaten your lunch?
-Did you eat your lunch?
1st July 2010
Reply
Both are correct.
Have you eaten your lunch? is more common when the intent is to have lunch together at 3 if he hasn't eaten his lunch yet. That's because "Have you eaten?" is more likely to be used when you are currently in a situation that may change depending on the answer. This is called "current relevance".
Did you eat your lunch? is more common when there is no current relevance. Maybe you talked to this person earlier and he said he was going to have lunch soon and would meet you later -- at 3. So you expect that he had lunch by the time he met you at 3, and you're just verifying that he ate his lunch, not expecting to do anything as a result of his having or not having lunch.
englishforums.com
