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What is more correct:

She is leaving because she finished her work.

or

She is leaving early because she has finished her work.

I am not a native English speaker. The question is about simple past tense vs present perfect tense in a complex sentence. I am really confused about proper usage of either of them.

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  • Nil - Was the first sentence really supposed to say "finished work her work"? Can you clarify it?
    – stangdon
    Oct 10, 2016 at 18:45
  • @stangdon I should have caught that for the OP on my first pass... Oct 10, 2016 at 18:48
  • first sentence should be like "finished her work" .That was a typo. Sorry for that. Oct 10, 2016 at 18:51
  • You can use present perfect when the action has been done by someone such as I've done, I've finish. It's also correct to use past simple for a completed action in the past, I finished the work, I ate the food. Oct 10, 2016 at 21:57
  • This question needs to have more context. Could you please say what type of job this person has, and what time do they usually finish work? Why does sentence No.2 have early? The two meanings will of course be different, so how do we know which is "more" correct?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Oct 11, 2016 at 4:30

2 Answers 2

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The difference between

She is leaving because she finished her work.
She is leaving early because she has finished her work.

is, in the first sentence she might be leaving early or at the regular time whereas in the second sentence she is definitely leaving early.

She is leaving because she finished her work.
She is leaving because she has finished her work.

Without further context, these two sentences have essentially the same meaning, if anything, possibly she left right after "she finished her work" (at the usual time) but maybe left some time after "she has finished her work".

She is leaving early because she has finished her work.
She is leaving early because she finished her work.

Also have equivalent meaning.

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In everyday usage, they are equivalent.

You can even say: "because she's finished her work" (where she's = she has).

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