Present Perfect Vs Past Simple
Present Perfect Vs Past Simple
Positive Question
I Have seen Negative Have I Seen
You Have seen I Have not seen Have You Seen
He/She/It Has seen You Have not seen Has He/She/It Seen
Short Answer
We Short Answer
Have seen He/She/It Has not seen Have We Seen
No I Have seenHave not Yes I have Have You Seen
You We Have not seen
No You Yes You have
They Have seenhave notYou Have not seen Have They
Has
Seen
‘s
No He/She/It has not They Yes He/She/It has
Have not seen have ‘ve
No We have not Yes We have
No You have not Yes You have Have not Haven’t
No They have not Yes They have
We often use the present perfect with just, already and yet. We can
use just after the verb have to emphasise that these events are very recent.
We use yet in negative sentences and questions to talk about things that we
expect to happen soon. Yet goes at the end of the sentence.
Recently
We often use the present perfect with recently to talk about past recent actions.
We can use the present perfect with time expressions when the time we mention
has not finished.
We use the present perfect to talk about past experiences when we don’t
say or we don’t know when something happened.
We often use the words never, ever, or before to talk about experiences.
We can use the present perfect simple with a superlative adjective and ever.
We can also use the present perfect to say how many times something has
happened until now.
We say someone has gone somewhere when this person is still away, and we
say someone has been somewhere when this person has already come back
from that place.
Tom has gone to Ireland. He’ll be there for a couple of weeks. (=He’s in
Ireland now.)
We have been to Ireland three times. We love it. (=We are not in Ireland
now.)
We can use the present perfect with for, since and how long to ask or talk
about situations that started in the past and have not finished.
Compare:
We can also use the present perfect with lately or with all + period of time (all
day, all morning, all my life, etc.) to talk about actions that started in the past
and continue in the present.
We use the present perfect (NOT past simple) to talk about past experiences
and actions when we don’t say or don’t know when they happened.