Sln

Question

what is the diffirence between present perfect and past simple

Avangi · Accepted Answer

I shot my gun twice.

I have shot my gun today.

Both are in the past. The first action could have been ten years ago.

The second action was in the very recent past, both by virtue of the tense and by virtue of the adverb "today."

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Anon,
I am not sure if this will help you visualize the difference between the tenses.

If you would imagine yourself travling along a long an interstate higway, with every minute and mile you pass, you have a new point of reference of the present time. Every thing in front of you is the future and everything behind you is the past. That being established, every thing you saw within the past mile belong to the past tense. So if you stopped at a coffee shop 2 miles back for breakfast, then you can say: " I felt hungry, so I stopped at the the coffee shop and had a big breakfast". As you may notice, it's all expressed in simple past tense, and We can use this concept in real life situation or events that took place before the present.
On the other hand, the rule of present perfect tense dictates that the related event must be initiated at some point in the past which extends or linked to the present. i.e.
I have traveled 500 miles so far.- Implication: I began my trip 3 days ago from San Francisco and I have just arrived Las Vegas which is my current traveled location. Present perfect should never be used with past time indicator directly. i.e. I have seen this movie 3 times last week.
However, it's correct to say " I have seen this movie 3 times." without any time indicator. It's very common to hear people say:
" I have known her all my life. "- The fact remains true

" I have experienced many ups and downs in my life." - This experience remains true.

" She has been a nurse for 15 years." -and she still is

Hope this helps you.

Sln

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions