Past Simple Vs. Present Perfect

Question

What is the difference between the past simple and the present perfect?

Answer 1

Past Simple and Present Perfect may be difficult to use, and may seem the same, but they are not.

Both actions talk about something you did in the past, but they are used in different situations.

Here are some key differences between "Past Simple" and "Present Perfect."

1. Past Simple-refers to completed, finished actions in the past.
2. Past Simple-tells us more details (Who, What, Where, When)
3. Present Perfect-use this to talk about past experiences in your life
4. Present Perfect-use this to talk about how many times you did something.
5. Present Perfect-gives very basic information; not a lot of details.

Example 1: I have been to Japan.

Example 2: I went to Japan last month with my family.

Example 3: I have eaten sushi 5 times this week!

Can you see which sentence is "Past Simple" and which is "Present Perfect?"

Sentence 2 is "Past Simple." It tells us "when," and "where," and "who."

Another big hint is Sentence 2 focuses on "when" they went to Japan. It's the main point.

Sentence 1 and 3 focus on the person's experience; 'what" did they do?

These are the most difficult points to remember.

Another big hint is that "Present Perfect" can sometimes show a continuing action. It started in the past and continues now. These sentences usually have keywords "for" or "since."

Example 1: I have lived in New York for 5 years. (<-- how long you lived there)

We also used "Present Perfect" for very recent finished actions.

"I have just finished my homework." (1 hour ago I completed the homework.)

These are the key differences between Past Simple and "Present Perfect." We use them if we want to focus on experiences and long continuing actions or.... talk about details like "when did you go?" "who did you go with?" "why did you go" etc.

Answer 2

This is best answered with examples.

Past simple: I read this question a few minutes ago. (An action that happened at a specific time-period in the past.)

Present perfect: I have been thinking about this question for five minutes. (An action that began in the past but continue into the present.)

Also, be aware of past perfect:

I had wondered if I should answer a question before I decided to answer a question. (An action in the past that happened before another action in the past - I had wondered, and then I decided.

Answer 3

A simple answer:

Simple past shows us complete actions.

Present perfect shows us incomplete actions which started in the past.

Such as: I have lived in Ohio for 5 years

.

Notice that have shows us the perfect aspect (incomplete action), and lived is in the past tense. Combining the two shows us that an action was started in the past but continues! Cool right!

That's it! English really only has 2 tenses: past and non-past.

To get MORE complicated: see the comments above which reference (indirectly) the two additional grammatical tools in English which help us talk about time: mood and aspect.