“I have been sent” or “I am sent”?

Question

I was asked to work with my friend's friend whom I don't know. As I enter his room, he asks me:

Who is this?

I reply:

This is James. I have been/am sent here by Ory.

Which one is appropriate, have been sent or am sent?

chrylis · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-04 21:24:05Z

4

Since the sending happened in the past (maybe just a few seconds ago, but in the past), you should use either the simple past tense (preterite):

I was sent here.

or the present perfect:

I have been sent here.

answered Oct 4 '13 at 21:24

chrylis

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3

-1 doesn't answer the question (doesn't deal with the grammatical I am sent except to ignore it or imply that it should not be used). – GoDucks Jan 17 '16 at 14:13

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migrated from english.stackexchange.com Oct 4 '13 at 21:21