Present Perfect and Past Simple?

Question

What is the certain difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple? Native speakers, what do you pay attention while you are talking and using these? I know differences but still can't distinguish.

Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Ellis BellWhat is the certain difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple? Native speakers, what do you pay attention to while you are talking and using these?

When we speak, we aren't really paying attention to any grammar. We're paying attention to the contents of our message.

These two tenses are difficult. In many cases either tense can be used. The difference has to do with the "feeling" of the tenses. The writer is conveying a feeling in each case.

The feeling that the writer is trying to convey by using a present perfect tense is that he is assessing how things stand now, as we speak, as a result of what happened in the past. The writer is not telling a story, but is assessing currently known facts. It's a matter of a present-time judgment. (The situation need not continue to the present, though it can. It merely has to have relevance within the present discussion.)

The feeling the writer is trying to convey by using a past tense is that we are there with him in the past, experiencing the past as if we were there. This past is the tense of story-telling. It doesn't matter what the situation is like now. We are not interested in the implications for the current state of affairs. The event may have something to do with the present situation, but that's not what the writer is focusing on. We are, at least temporarily, transported back to the time of the story and forget the present.

Grammar books sometimes draw a contrast between definiteness (simple past) and indefiniteness (present perfect). Even more often they talk about whether the action has current relevance (present perfect) or not (simple past).

Another way to look at it is this: The simple past fixes the action in time. It is absolutely stuck in the past. The only scope of time to be considered is the time during which the action took place. On the other hand, the present perfect is about the relationship of the past action to the present situation. The scope of time to be considered is all the time between the action and the present moment. The connection of the past event to the present situation has to be considered.

>>>>> In short, the present perfect assesses; the past narrates.
>>>>> The present perfect answers "How do things stand now?"
>>>>> The past answers "What happened?"

Thus, "I have decided to travel to Mexico" tells that I have now finally reached a decision, possibly after thinking about the matter for quite some time. "I decided to travel to Mexico" is an event in a longer story, possibly about what I did 20 years ago, though it could just as well be about what I did last month.

Similarly, "I've found a good place to have Japanese food" reports the results of a search that may have been going on for some time. "I found a good place to have Japanese food" is an event in a longer story, possibly about what I did on a certain day, either a long time ago, or some time ago, or even today.
__________________

Several practical guidelines can be derived from the principles above. You can find many of these in grammar books. I'll give you a few below.

> If the sentence tells when something happened, like the exact time, day, month, or year, you use the simple past. The reason is that the present perfect cannot be used with expressions of definite time, for example, Tuesday, last week, in 1996, last April.

I saw my boss at the mall last week. (Not I have seen ... last week.)

> If the sentence contains a time clause (with when, before, after, as soon as, ...), you use the simple past in the main clause.

Tom liked the car as soon as he saw it. (Not Tom has liked ...)

> Historical facts about historical figures are presented in the simple past.

Brahms wrote four symphonies. (Not Brahms has written ...)

> If the sentence tells in a since clause when the situation began, you use the present perfect.

I have been in bed with the flu since last Wednesday. (Not I was in bed ...)

See
See
See

CJ

Present Perfect and Past Simple?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions