<You came><you've come> to the right place

[JJXR]

Hello to all,

Thanks for reading my post.


Source:

Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven (a computer game).

Context:

Luigi asked Tom to see Sarah (Luigi's daughter) home. A bunch of thugs attacked Tom and Sarah halfway home. The next day, Don Salieri found out about the incident. He ordered Tom and Paulie to fix the problem. Don Salieri sent them to Big Biff (a stoolie) who was supposed to know where the gang was located. Tom and Paulie find Big Biff, they come up to him, and the dialog below takes place.

Sample sentence:

Paulie: "We need a little piece of information."

Big Biff: "What's going on?"

Paulie: "A gang of jokers have set themselves up in our territory and they're giving people a bad time. They messed with Luigi's daughter. If it wasn't for Tom here, who knows what they would have done to her. We need to know where they meet so we can deliver them a message from Don Salieri."

Big Biff: "<You came><you've come> to the right place, Paulie. I know what's going on. A few people have already had problems with them, and they told me they meet at the old service station near the Terranova bridge. It's a little ways from here. You can get there through a sort of side door across the yard."

Question:

The simple past "came" is used in the original. Would it be correct to use the present perfect "has come" instead?


Thanks a lot for any comments, corrections or suggestions!

Regards,
JJXR

 

[sound shift]

Yes, it would be correct to use the present perfect. I would do so in that scenario, but I speak BrE, and I realise that AmE speakers are more likely than BrE speakers to use the simple past in this type of context.

 

[JJXR]

Thanks for the response, sound shift.

 

[JJXR]

Context:

John comes up to Bob and says: "Bob, I want you to go to Peter and buy this, this, and this from him. Go see Chris to get some money." Bob replies to John: "I don't want to do it today. Maybe I will do it later, perhaps tomorrow." To which John replies with one of the sentences below.

Sample sentences:

1. I didn't come here to ask you for a favor, I came here to give you an order. Do what you're told now!

2. I haven't come here to ask you for a favor, I've come here to give you an order. Do what you're told now!

Question:

In the context given, version #1 is what an American English speaker would say, whereas version #2 is what a British English speaker would say. Am I right? Thanks in advance.

 

[kentix]

"You've come to the right place" is pretty standard in that context in American English. I'm not sure if it's because of the grammar specifically or mostly because it's sort of a cliche saying. But it's very common. I would expect to hear that before "You came to the right place."

Looking just at the grammar, I think I would make the same choice. The coming isn't a separate event that is focused on. The true focus is on them being there in that moment, which fits present perfect. (i.e. you have arrived at the right place)

 

[JJXR]

Thanks for the response, kentix.

How about the scenario in post #4, would it be correct to use either version in American English in that context? Thanks.

 

[kentix]

In that example, I would only use 1.

 

[JJXR]

Thanks for the response, kentix.

Should sentence #1 or sentence #2 be used in British English in the scenario in post #4? Thanks.