Joy English
Joy English

B1 Grammar

B1Tenses15 min

Present perfect or past simple?

Learn when to talk about a finished time in the past and when to connect the past with now.

Both tenses talk about the past, but they look at it in different ways. The past simple describes an action at a finished time: yesterday, last week, in 2019, when I was a child. The present perfect (have/has + past participle) connects the past with now. We use it when the time is not finished, when the exact time is not important, or when the result matters now.

PointPast simplePresent perfect
Formworked, went, sawhave / has + worked, gone, seen
Timea finished time: yesterday, last year, agoan unfinished or unstated time: today, this week, ever, never
ExperienceRavi visited Lisbon in 2022.Ravi has visited Lisbon twice.
DurationLena lived in Oslo for five years. (She doesn't now.)Lena has lived in Oslo for five years. (She still does.)

Time words that help

Words like yesterday, last month, two days ago and in 2020 point to a finished time, so they go with the past simple. Words like ever, never, already, yet, just, so far, since and for often go with the present perfect. A conversation often starts with the present perfect and then moves to the past simple for the details.

  • A: Have you ever tried Ethiopian food? B: Yes, I have. I ate it at a street festival last summer.
  • Aiko has just finished her report, so she can help us now.
  • Tomás started his new job three weeks ago.
  • This is the first time I've visited this museum.
  • We haven't seen the new science centre yet.

Exercise 1 of 2

Choose the correct tense

Choose the best option to complete each sentence.

  1. Mina _____ her grandparents last weekend.

  2. _____ you ever been to a jazz concert?

  3. When _____ to this city?

  4. Jamal _____ for this company since 2018.

  5. My parents _____ married for thirty years, and they are still very happy together.

  6. Kofi _____ to Accra in 2015 and stayed there for a year.

  7. Lena _____ three short stories so far this year.

  8. I _____ Aiko at the station two hours ago.

0 of 8 answered

Exercise 2 of 2

Write the verb

Type the past simple or present perfect form of the verb in brackets.

  1. This is the first time I (try) skiing.

  2. We (go) to the beach yesterday afternoon.

  3. Ravi (live) here since he was a child.

  4. When (you / arrive) in London?

  5. Tomás (not / see) his cousins since the summer.

  6. Our team (win) the final in 2021.

  7. Sofia (be) to Japan twice, and she wants to go again.

  8. Kofi (lose) his phone last week, but he found it the next day.

0 of 8 answered

Source

Original lesson by Joy English.

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