SIMPLE PAST AND PRESENT PERFECT

The difference between the forms and meanings of the simple past and the present perfect is often confusing for learners.  Both deal with finished action but there is slight difference in the meaning.

We use past tense form of the verb in simple past. For example,

·         Regular verbs – completed, played etc.

·         Irregular verbs – saw, sang, spoke etc.

The past simple is used to express the following meanings in English.

1. We use the past simple to talk about an action finished in the past.  

For example, 

1.      Ramesh played football yesterday.

2.      He went to Goa on Monday.

2. We can also use the simple past to talk about habits in the past.

For example,

1.      I played football everyday when I was in school.

2.      I did my homework everyday when I was in school.

The form of the verb in the present perfect is as follows

Have/has + Past Participle of the verb.

•         I/we/you/they/plural noun + have + Past Participle of the verb.

•         He/she/it/singular noun + has + Past Participle of the verb.

We use present perfect to talk about an action completed in the past but that action is connected with the present time in meaning.  The present perfect is used to express following meanings in English.

1. Perfect of Result

The Present Perfect is used to talk about an action finished in the past but its result is seen in the   present time.

For example,

She has cleaned this room.  (Result: The room looks clean now.)

2. Perfect of current relevance.

   The present perfect is used to talk about an action took place in the past and it is still true.

   For example,

    He has gone to America. (Current relevance:  He went to America and is in America now.)

3.  Perfect of experience

     The present perfect is also used to talk about an event that happened at least once until now.

      For example,

      Mehar has been to Goa once. (She has experience of visiting Goa at least once until now. She is not  

      in Goa now.)

4. Perfect for recently finished action

    The present perfect is used to talk about an action completed recently.

    For example,

    I have just had lunch.

We can use adverbial indicating past time in a simple past sentence. For example,

He went to Delhi on Tuesday.

However, we cannot use adverbial indicating past time in a present perfect sentence.

* He has gone to Delhi on Tuesday.

The above sentence is wrong.  The correct sentence would be

He has gone to Delhi.

The difference in meanings of the present perfect and the simple past can be understood from the following  examples.

 1.  A.  I have lost my key. (I can’t find it now.)

     B. I lost my key last week. (and found it yesterday)

 2.  A. Bill has gone to Goa. (He is in Goa now.)

     B. Bill went to Goa on Monday. (and has come back today by plane.)

Thus, both the past tense and the present perfect talk about finished actions. We use the simple past when we cant to talk about actions completed in the past.  However, we use the present perfect when we want to connect the finished actions with the present time in meaning.