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  1. I have heard recomendations from doctors on TV.

I can imply or emphasize that I have heard the recomendations at different times, at different places, not just once before. It can indicate someone's experience.

  1. I heard recomendations from doctors on TV.

It is more likely to refer to a situation that happened once before. So it implies that I heard recomendations (plural), not just singular one, at a time on the spot.

I know it depends on situation, but personally I think it is more natural situation that a person have heard reconmendations several time in his/her life. So, generally I would say #1. Am I right to think this way?

jihoon
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  • [Related Question](http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/42951/is-there-a-simple-and-clear-way-to-explain-the-difference-between-past-simple-an) answered by @BenKovitz –  Feb 16 '15 at 14:55
  • Also see, read, reread, bookmark and treasure [What is the perfect and how should I use it?](http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13255/canonical-post-2-what-is-the-perfect-and-how-should-i-use-it) on the perfect by @StoneyB –  Feb 16 '15 at 15:01
  • If you click on the *present-perfect* tag you can find many other posts on the subject. In fact you can do this for most subjects. That is one way tags can be very helpful. Clicking on the present-perfect tag brings you [to this page](http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/present-perfect), which you browse. You can also sort it by several things, such as active and most votes. You can find *a lot* of valuable Information from many very good answers. –  Feb 16 '15 at 15:08
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    For a condensed post on the difference between present perfect and simple past by @StoneyB (whose answers are among the best on this site) see [past simple versus present perfect](http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/38326/past-simple-vs-present-perfect/38335#38335). –  Feb 16 '15 at 15:46

1 Answers1

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Present perfect is usually used if you want to emphasise what happened rather than when. (eg: Headlines). So yes, broadly speaking I would probably say I have heard.... It doesn't necessarily mean that I have heard it many times though , maybe I just can't recall when.

Past simple is always used when you specify the time when something happened , even for a sentence like this: I once heard that...

That said, as you mentioned it does depend on the situation and on the speaker.

cwbrd
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