Mastering Present Perfect & Past Simple: English Tenses Explained

Present Perfect vs. Past Simple: A Comprehensive Overview

The Present Perfect tense is used for actions that started in the past and are still happening.

It's also used for:

1. Past actions whose results are connected to the present.
2. Announcing news, changes, or events that affect the present.
3. Completed actions where the time isn't specified, or for recently completed actions.

Present Perfect Structure

Affirmative:

Subject + auxiliary verb ("to have") + past participle...

Negative:

Subject + auxiliary verb ("to have") + "not" + past participle...

Interrogative:

Auxiliary verb ("to have") + subject + past participle...?

Wh- Questions:

Wh + have/has + subject + verb (past participle) + ...?

Using "For" and "Since"

For: two hours, a week, six months, twelve years

"For" is used to indicate the duration of a period of time.

Since: 2 o'clock, July, 1973, when I was a child

"Since" is used to indicate the beginning of a period of time. It is not used in negative sentences.

"Since" or "For" are placed after the verb.

Adverbs with Present Perfect

Yet: Used only in interrogative and negative sentences, and it's placed at the end of the sentence.

Already: Used in affirmative and interrogative sentences. It's placed between the auxiliary verb (have/has) and the main verb, but can also appear at the end of the sentence for emphasis.

Just: Used to emphasize that something has just finished.

Ever/Never: Subject + auxiliary verb + ever/never + past participle...

How long: Used to ask about the duration of an action that started in the past and continues into the present.

Past Simple Tense

We use the Past Simple for completed actions in the past. The time period of these actions is not as important as in other tenses. In the Past Simple, there are regular and irregular verbs. To form the Past Simple with regular verbs, we add the ending "-ed" to the verb. The form is the same for all persons.

For verbs that end in an "e", we only add "-d". If the verb ends in a short vowel and a consonant (except "y" or "w"), we double the final consonant. With verbs that end in a consonant and a "y", the "y" is changed to an "i".

Subject + main verb... (Affirmative sentences)

Subject + auxiliary verb ("to do") + "not" + main verb... (Negative sentences)

Auxiliary verb ("to do") + subject + main verb...? (Interrogative sentences)

The Past Simple is used to talk about a specific action that started and ended in the past. In this case, it is equivalent to the Spanish *pretérito indefinido*. Generally, we use it with adverbs of time like "last year", "yesterday", "last night"...

The Past Simple is used for a series of actions in the past.

It is also used for repeated or habitual actions in the past.

We use it for narrations or actions of long periods of time in the past.

It is used to talk about generalities or facts of the past.