Using present perfect or past simple?

Question

Hi all.Could someone explain me please where to use present perfect and where to use past simple?I've been learning English for 4 years now and this is my weak point. I just don't know where to use which. There are situations where it is obvious, but sometimes it is just not that obvious because both sounds good to me. I mean like if I never heard something should I say " I have never heard that..." or "I never heard that...", "I have learned English" or just simply "I learned English", "I haven't seen that man before" or "I didn't see/never saw that man before" and things like this. Sometimes I think for too long about it and I can't speak/write fluently if I have to stop thinking...

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousSometimes I think for too long about it and I can't speak/write fluently ...

When in doubt, use the simple past. There are cases where even two different native speakers choose differently between past and present perfect.

The simple past is used to tell a story. It's a narrative tense. It's disconnected from the present. This happened, then that happened, then this happened, then that happened. So this tense is frequently used to talk about a sequence of events that happened that, taken together, tell a story of some kind. (I attended such-and-such a school. I learned English there. Later, I got a job where I had to speak English.)

The present perfect is used to inform the listener of a state of affairs. It's a diary tense. It's an update tense. It relates to present time. I see in my diary that in April of 1995 I was in China. If I want to convey to others that this is one of my accomplishments, today I say: I have been to China. Now I've updated them about my life. I've told them something I've experienced, an accomplishment that I can list under my name. (I have seen the Coliseum. I have traveled in Mexico. I have learned English. I have written a novel. I have met many movie stars.) The present perfect is often used in the combination 'I've never' when you want to say there's is nothing in your "diary of life experiences" that indicates any experience with that particular thing. (I've never seen Antarctica. I've never had measles.)

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CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks, really.
So basically if I get it right, if I say "I learned English" that means I learned english sometime in the past, but didn't finish learning it at the time. I just learned. If I say "I have learned English" that means I have finished the learning. Is that right?
Or "I didn't see that man" means I didn't see one man particularly at one exact moment. Like:
-Hey, did you see that guy over there? He stole something!
-No, I didn't see him.

And "I haven't seen that man" means I have never seen someone in my life. Not just at the moment for a random guy, but not in my life an exact man like:
(going on the street with a friend)
-Hey, have you seen that guy? He must be the new neighbor.
-No, I haven't seen him.

Correct me if I am wrong.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousif I say "I learned English" that means I learned english sometime in the past, but didn't finish learning it at the time. I just learned. If I say "I have learned English" that means I have finished the learning. Is that right?

Not exactly. You finished in both cases. Finishing has very little to do with this problem of differentiating these tenses.

It may seem difficult to understand, but "I learned English" looks at the situation from the point of view of the past, but "I have learned English" looks at the situation from the point of view of the present. The situation is the same either way. It's how the speaker thinks about it that is different.

As for learning English, the facts are the same in both tenses. It's how we look at the facts that differs. (Not easy to see for a learner, I imagine.)

AnonymousOr "I didn't see that man" means I didn't see one man particularly at one exact moment. Like:-Hey, did you see that guy over there? He stole something!-No, I didn't see him.

Exactly correct. When we talk about an event in terms of the time it happened, we use the simple past. We never use the present perfect when we have in mind or state any past time at which the event happened.

AnonymousAnd "I haven't seen that man" means I have never seen someone in my life. Not just at the moment for a random guy, but not in my life an exact man like:(going on the street with a friend)-Hey, have you seen that guy? He must be the new neighbor.-No, I haven't seen him.

Correct. Your example works very well. Note, however, that it doesn't have to be "never in my life". In a different example you could have:

— Have you seen Jack lately? (Jack is someone I see now and then, but not very often.)
— No, I haven't seen him (for weeks). (You can add a for-phrase like this one to approximate the length of time.)

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJimNot exactly. You finished in both cases. Finishing has very little to do with this problem of differentiating these tenses.

I meant it a little differently, I don't know why I used "finished". I actually meant that with the "I learned English" that I learned it in the past, finished learning it, but didn't learned it. So basically can't use it, just learned it for a while without success.
And "I have learned English" I learned it, and I succeeded in learning it so I can speak the language.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI actually meant that with the "I learned English" that I learned it in the past, finished learning it, but didn't ~~learned~~ learn it. So basically can't use it, just learned it for a while without success.And "I have learned English" I learned it, and I succeeded in learning it so I can speak the language.

That's not quite the right interpretation of the past tense. Either of these are possible.

I learned English in London 20 years ago, and I can still speak it well. (successful learning)
I learned English in London 20 years ago, but I've forgotten everything I learned. (unsuccessful learning)

"learn a language" is a rather vague concept because it's hard to know at what point anyone has really learned it (finished learning it). Maybe that is part of the confusion.

Your interpretation of the present perfect (I have learned English) is more accurate.

CJ

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