Simple Past vs Present Perfect Tense

SIMPLE PAST vs PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

By Dewi Rahayu

Multiple Choice

Andika was sleeping when I ... to his house

• come

• comes

• came

• coming

• will come

Multiple Choice

she didn't ... her homework last night

• do

• did

• done

• doing

• does

Multiple Choice

Did you ... a letter for your teacher?

• write

• wrote

• written

• writing

• writes

Multiple Choice

What did the children do last night?

• The children watched the cartoon

• The children listened to the music

• The children slept on the floor

• The children played the hand phone

• The children studied together

Fill in the Blanks

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Recent events and news (Just, yet, already)

We often use the present perfect with the words just, yet, already.

• We use just in (+) sentences to say that something happened very recently (like minutes ago).
  I’ve just seen Peter in the street. 

He looks happy because he’s just got married.

• We use yet in (-) and (?) sentences. We put it at the end of the sentence.
  Have you washed the dishes yet?

I haven’t called him yet.

She hasn’t arrived yet.

• We use already in (+) sentences to say that something happened before now (usually earlier than we expected).
  I have already finished.

We have already arrived.

Life experiences (Never, Ever, Before)

We often use the present perfect to talk about past experiences in our lives. We don’t say when these experiences happened.

• When we ask about someone’s life experiences, we often use the word ever.
  Have you ever read this book?

  Have you ever been to India?

• When we talk about life experiences, we often use the words never or before.
  She has never been late. 

  I think I have seen this film before.

Unfinished Actions (How long, for, since)

We use the present perfect with the words how long, for, since to talk about actions or situations that started in the past and still continue or are still true now.

• We use how long in questions to ask about the duration of an action or situation.
  How long has she been a teacher?

  How long has she had her car?

• We use for + a period of time, e.g. for two weeks, for ten years, for ten days, for a few hours, etc.
  We’ve been here for a few hours. 

  They’ve been married for 10 years.

• We use since + a moment in the past (the beginning of a period of time), e.g. since I was born, since 10 o’clock, since last Wednesday, etc.
  We’ve been here since 4 o’clock. 

  They’ve been married since 2010.

Be careful with these common mistakes!

• We use the present perfect, and not the present simple for actions or situations that started in the past and are still true now.
  We are friends since first grade.

  We’ve been friends since first grade.

• We use for… and NOT since…ago to introduce a period of time.
  They’ve been married since 10 years ago. 

  They’ve been married for 10 years.