Past Simple vs Present Perfect

Present Perfect

 

Affirmative
	Long Form	Short Form
I/You	have	’ve	lived/
He/She/It	has	’s	come.
We/They	have	’ve

 

Negative
	Long Form	Short Form
I/You	have not	haven't	lived/
He/She/It	has not	hasn't	come.
We/They	have not	haven't

 

 

Interrogative	Short Answers
Have Has Have	I/you he/she/it we/they	lived?/ come?	Yes, I/we have. No, I/we haven’t. Yes, he/she/it has. No, he/she/it hasn’t. Yes, you/they have. No, you/they haven’t.

 

· We form the present perfect with the auxiliary verb have/has and the past participle.

· We form the past participle of regular verbs by adding -ed to the verb, stay - stayed

· We form the past participle of irregular verbs differently.

give - given (See the list of irregular verbs at the back of the book.)

· We form questions by putting have/has before the subject. Have you seen the film?

· We form negations by putting not between have/has and the past participle.

She has not/hasn’t done her homework yet.

Use

 

We use the present perfect:

· for actions which happened at an unspecified time in the past. The exact time is not mentioned because it is not important We put more emphasis on the action.

She has found a new job. (When did she find it? We don’t mention the exact time because it is not important. What is important is the fact that she has a new job.)

· for actions which started in the past and still continue in the present.

She has lived there since 1999. (She started living there in 1999, and she is still living there.)

· for actions which have recently finished and their results are visible in the present.

She has put on weight. (We can see that she has put on weight. She used to be thinner.)

· with today, this morning/afternoon, etc when these periods of time are not finished at the time of speaking. They have packed three boxes this morning. (It is still morning, so this period of time is not finished.)

BUT: They packed their suitcases this morning. (Now it is evening.)

 

Time expressions used with the present perfect simple: for, since, already, just, always, ever, how long, yet, lately, never, so far, today, this morning/ afternoon/week/month/year, etc.

Affirmative

For

He has lived here for ten years.

Since

They have been on holidays since Monday.

Already

She has already finished her homework.

Just

He has just won the competition.

Always

Bob has always loved spinach pie.

Recently

They have recently bought a new house.

 

Negative

For/in

I haven’t talked to them for/in months, (duration)

Since

I haven’t seen Tony since last week, (starting point)

Yet

She hasn’t replied to my letter yet.

Lately

I haven’t seen Tim lately.

Never

They have never travelled by plane.

 

Interrogative

Ever

Have you ever been abroad?

How long

How long have you known Kenneth?

yet

Have you finished the project yet?

Lately

Has Jane visited you lately?

 

Have gone (to) - Have been (to)

• We use have gone (to) to say that someone went somewhere and is still there.

• We use have been (to) to say that someone went somewhere but has come back.

 

Past Simple vs Present Perfect

Past Simple

We use the past simple for:

· an action which happened at a stated time in the past.

He woke up at 9 o’clock yesterday.

(When? At nine.)

· an action which started and finished in the past.

He lived in Rome for two years. (He isn’t in Rome any more.)

BUT: She has lived in Rome for three years. (She is still in Rome.)

· Time expressions used with the past simple: ago, yesterday, last week/month/ Monday etc.

Present Perfect

We use the present perfect for:

· an action which happened at an unstated time in the past.

He has been to Paris twice. (When? We don’t know. The time is not stated.)

· an action which started in the past and still continues in the present.

She has been a nurse for ten years. (She became a nurse ten years ago and she is still a nurse.)

· an action which has recently finished and its results are visible in the present.

She has put on weight. (So, her clothes don’t fit her.)

· Times expressions used with the present perfect: yet, already, since, for, just etc.

 

Past Simple vs Past Perfect

Form

had + Ved of regular verbs

3rd column of irregular verbs

Example: I had spoken

Use

We use Simple Past if we give past events in the order in which they occurred. However, when we look back from a certain time in the past to tell what had happened before, we use Past Perfect.

Normal order in the past or looking back to an event before a certain time in the past?

Do you just want to tell what happened sometime in the past or do you want to tell what had happened before/up to a certain time in the past?

Simple Past	Past Perfect Simple
sometime in the past Example: Jane got up at seven. She opened her birthday presents and then the whole family went to the zoo.	before/up to a certain time in the past Example: Before her sixth birthday, Jane had never been to the zoo.

Signal Words

Simple Past	Past Perfect Simple
§ first § then	§ already § up to then § before that day § after*

*Note: "After" is only used as a signal word for Past Perfect if it is followed by a subject + verb, meaning that one action had been completed before another action began (the new action is in Simple Past).

Example: After the family had had breakfast, they went to the zoo.

However, if "after" is followed by object + subject + verb, the verb belongs to the new action and is therefore in Simple Past.

Example: After her visit to the zoo, Jane was exhausted.

More exceptions with signal words

When

Depending on the situation, "when" can be used with Simple Past or Past Perfect. Compare the following examples:

Example: When Jane saw the elephants, she was amazed. (at the same time)

When Jane had seen the elephants, she wanted to see the giraffes. (second action happened after the first action had been completed)

When Jane went to see the elephants, she had already seen the lions. (second action had been completed when the first action took place)

Before

"Before" as well can either be used with Simple Past or Past Perfect. If the action after "before" is a new action, use Simple Past. If the action after "before" started (and was not completed) before a certain time in the past, use Past Perfect. Compare the following examples:

Example: Jane had read a lot about elephants before she went to the zoo.

Jane went to the zoo before she had finished reading her new book about elephants.

Ways of expressing future

 

Be going to

 

Use

 

We use be going to:

· to talk about future plans and intentions.

Sheila is going to spend her holidays in Malta this year. (She’s planning to.)

· to make predictions based on what we see or know.

Look at those clouds. It is going to rain.

Form

 

Affirmative:	I am,You are,He/She/It is,We/You/They are going to buyit.
Negative:	I am not,He/She/It is not,We/You/They are not going to buyit.
Interrogative:	AmI, ishe/she/it, arewe/you/they going to buyit?
Short Answers:	Yes, I am./No, I’m not. Yes,you are./No,you aren’t. Yes,he/she/it is./No,he/she/it isn’t. Yes,we are./No,we aren’t. Yes,they are./No,they aren’t.

 

Let’s take a photo of him! He’s going to blow out the candles.

Time expressions used with be going to: in a little while, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in two/ three etc days’ time, next week/month/year, tonight, soon, this evening, in a week month/year, etc.

 

 

Will (Future Simple)

Form

 

We form the future simple with will + bare infinitive. Will is the same for all persons. I think he’ll be late tonight. I think I’ll go to bed early tonight.

We form questions by putting will before the subject.

Will Greg give you a ride to the shops?

We form negations by putting not after will. The short form of will not is won’t.

They will not/won’t take Sue with them.

Affirmative

Long Form	I/You/He/She/It/We/They	will	visit.
Short Form	I/You/He/She/It/W e/They	’11	visit.
Negative
Long Form	I/You/He/She/It/We/They	will not	visit.
Short Form	I/You/He/She/It/We/They	won’t	visit.
Interrogative
Will	I/you/he/she/it/we/they	visit?

Short Answers

Yes, I/he/she/it will./No, I/he/she/it won’t. Yes, we/you/they will./No, we/you/they won’t.

The baby will learn to walk soon.

Use

We use will:

· for on-the-spot decisions.

I’m hungry. I’ll order a pizza.

· to make predictions based on what we think or imagine.

Cars will run on solar power in thirty years’ time.

· for threats or warnings.

Make sure the products get here tomorrow or I’ll cancel the order.

· for promises.

I’ll be back in an hour. I promise.

· with the verbs hope, think, believe, expect, etc.

· with the expressions I’m sure, I’m afraid, etc.

· with the adverbs probably, perhaps, etc.

Time expressions used with will and be going to: in a little while, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in two/three etc days’ time, next week/month/year, tonight, soon, this evening, in a week/month/year, etc.

I believe he will pass his exams next year. They will probably be home in a little while.