Learning English

"...and we've been together for years."

When we want to talk about life experiences and events in our life, there are two tenses we often use: the present perfect and the past simple. How do you decide which one to use? In this session we're going to show you when to use present perfect and when to use the past simple.

Our example sentences are mostly about relationships. Take a good look - they will be useful later in this Unit when it's your turn to talk about your own relationships!

Barreeffama kana dubbisii shakala kana xumuri

Life experiences

When we talk about a life experience, we can use the present perfect. We don't say when the experience happened - we're more interested in the experience than the time or date.

My wife has seen both Sex and the City movies.

If we want to say when the experience happened in the past, we use the past simple.

She watched the newest Sex and the City movie last week.

We often use the present perfect with the words ever and never.

Have you ever fallen in love? No, sadly I've never been in love.

We can answer these questions with Yes, I have. or No, I haven't.

If we want to say how many times we have done something, we can use the present perfect, or we can add a past simple sentence with an expression of time or place.

'Have you ever fallen in love?' 'Yes. I've actually been in love twice.'
'Have you ever fallen in love?' 'Yes, I have. I fell in love twice with different women when I was in Japan.'

Recent past actions that are important now

We use the present perfect when things that happened in the recent past are important now.

Oh no! I've lost my wedding ring... My wife will kill me!

We use the past simple to say when the action happened.

Ilost my wedding ring last night...

Past situations that are still happening now

We use the present perfect for situations that started in the past and are still happening now.

I haven't seen my husband this morning. (It is still this morning.)

We use the past simple for situations that started and finished in the past.

I didn't see my husband this morning. (It is this afternoon or evening now.)

How long, for, since

We sometimes use the present perfect to ask questions with how long.

How long have you lived with your boyfriend?

We talk about how long with the words for (meaning throughout a period of time) and since (meaning from a point of time to now - this can be a date or a past simple phrase).

We have lived together for three years.
We've been in a relationship since 2002.
I've known him since we were children.

For completed events, we ask how long questions with the past simple.

'How long did you live with your ex-husband?' 'We lived together for about six years. I moved out when I found out he was cheating!' 

Just, already, yet

We use the present perfect with just, already and yet to talk about recent events. We use just and already mostly in positive sentences. We use yet in negative sentences and questions.

I've just met the most gorgeous man! I wonder if he's single...
'Let's go to the movies tonight, James.' 'We've already been three times this week. I think you're movie mad, Jane!'
He hasn't asked me on a date yet.
Have you decided when to have your wedding yet?

Completed actions in the past

We usually use the past simple to talk about completed past actions. We often include a time reference in these sentences.

I met my wife on 3 July 1990 and we got married in August.
We went on holiday three times together in 1997.
Wecelebrated our 14th anniversary last August.
Our close friends moved to France three months ago.

To do

Can you tell your present perfect from your past simple? When do we use these forms? Try this grammar quiz to find out!

Next

Now that you have an idea of when and why we use the present perfect and the past simple, it's time to take a closer look at their forms. Go to the next activity to find out about it!