Published 29/05/2015 In Blog
The past simple is used to talk about events that happened and finished in the past. They usually have a clear past time reference.
Past simple: past form of the verbs. A lot of verbs are regular so end in -ed (play = played; stay = stayed; help = helped).
Some verbs are *irregular, such as:
Eat = ate Yesterday, I ate dinner with friends
Speak = spoke I spoke to my friend in China yesterday
Buy = bought I bought the new iPhone 600 last week.
*Above this explanation you have a table with the irregular verbs in English
The present perfect literally means BEFORE NOW. It also talks about events in the past. However, these events have either happened very near the present (e.g. I have finished = just now) or have some connection with the present, either in time (for instance, today or this week) or in conversational topic.
Present perfect: have + past participle (3rd form of the verbs). With regular verbs, the past participle is usually the same as the past form. Irregular verbs can differ. For instance:
Eat = ate = eaten I have eaten too much food this evening.
Speak = spoke = spoken I have spoken to my friend on the phone 3 times today.
Buy = bought = bought I have bought a new house. Do you want to see it?
Time phrases (adverbials) are very important in deciding whether to use the past simple or present perfect.
Common past simple time phrases
Last year/month
yesterday
3 years/months/weeks/days ago
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Common present perfect time phrases
Since (from then until now) already just yet (usually used with negative) ever (have you ever ...?) never (Negative reply)
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1a. I travelled around Asia 10 years ago (‘ago’ points to a past, finished time)
1b. I have travelled around Asia (BEFORE NOW)
2a. I went to the bank yesterday (finished time)
2b. I have been to the bank today (it is still today, but the action happened before speaking)
3a. I studied at university for 4 years (I am no longer at university)
3b. I have studied at university for 4 years. (I started 4 years ago and I’m still there)
Hopefully this grammar explanation will have helped you to understand how we form comparatives in Spanish, but if it isn't so don't hesitate to send me an email with your questions at info@keelyalgarlanguages.com
I will be more than happy to answer any of your questions!
english grammar past simple vs present perfect past simple present perfect