Present Perfect Simple versus Simple Past

1. PRESENT PERFECT (SIMPLE)

2. FORM:
Subject + have/has(n’t)+ Past Participle
We have lived in Ourense for ages.
Paul has read all the Harry Potter books.
It hasn’t snowed for ages.
They haven’t called since last summer.
Have you ever met a celebrity?
How long has he been here?

3. PRESENT PERFECT vs. SIMPLE PAST
Present Perfect Simple:
-Actions started in the Past still
happening in the present:
I have studied English since I
was a child.
DIFFERENCES:
-Action is over but there’s a
connection with the present:
Paul has broken his left arm (it
is still broken)
-Actions that happened at an
unspecified time in the past:
I have been abroad many
times.
Simple Past:
-Actions finished in the past no
longer affecting the Present:
I studied English when I was a
child.
Paul broke his arm when he
was 12. (His arm is no longer
broken)
-Actions that happened at a
specific time in the past:
Mary went abroad last
Summer.

5. TIME EXPRESSIONS
PRESENT PERFECT:
How long?
Just
Already
Yet
So far
Ever
Never
Recently
Lately
Today
This week/ month/ …
It is the 1st. time that….
Who/ what’s the + superlative that…?
For + periods of time
Since + the moment when something began
SIMPLE PAST:
When
… Ago
Last week/ month/…
In 1999/ 2012, …
Yesterday

6. More Practice on English teacher