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Past Simple, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous

Past Simple and Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is the tense that links the past with the present.

Past Simple (Past form)	Past Perfect (Present of have + Past Participle )
We use the Past Simple: 1. for past habits or states, whether continuous or repeated: Long ago, they built most houses out of wood. He always caught the same train. 2. with periods of time that have finished: I read the newspaper this morning. (= it is now afternoon or evening) He did a lot in his short life. (= he's dead) 3. for finished actions with time words like a year ago, last Sunday, last week, yesterday, etc.: Watson and Crick identified the structure of DNA in 1953. The first modern Olympics took place in Athens more than a hundred years ago.	We use the Present Perfect: 1. for actions or states in the past which have a connection with the present: They have bought a new house. (= they can now go and live in it) It's just started to rain. (= now, so bring the washing in) 2. when the results of an action or state are obvious now: You've spilt the coffee all over my trousers - look! They've polluted the river. (= the fish are dead) 3 for repeated actions in the past, with words like often, rarely, seldom: He's often been to France. 4. with periods of time that have not finished yet: We've built 20 new schools this year. (= it is still this year) He has done a lot in his short life. (= he's alive and young) 5. for actions with expressions like already, before, ever, never, often, recently, still, yet, etc.: Rain has already ruined the tomato crops. Have you ever seen a UFO? We still haven't discovered life on other planets. They haven't sent an astronaut to Mars yet.

Past Simple (Past form)

Past Perfect (Present of have + Past Participle )

We use the Past Simple:

1. for past habits or states, whether continuous or repeated:

Long ago, they built most houses out of wood.

He always caught the same train.

2. with periods of time that have finished:

I read the newspaper this morning. (= it is now afternoon or evening)

He did a lot in his short life. (= he's dead)

3. for finished actions with time words like a year ago, last Sunday, last week, yesterday, etc.:

Watson and Crick identified the structure of DNA in 1953.

The first modern Olympics took place in Athens more than a hundred years ago.

We use the Present Perfect:

1. for actions or states in the past which have a connection with the present:

They have bought a new house. (= they can now go and live in it)

It's just started to rain. (= now, so bring the washing in)

2. when the results of an action or state are obvious now:

You've spilt the coffee all over my trousers - look!

They've polluted the river. (= the fish are dead)

3 for repeated actions in the past, with words like often, rarely, seldom:

He's often been to France.

4. with periods of time that have not finished yet:

We've built 20 new schools this year. (= it is still this year)

He has done a lot in his short life. (= he's alive and young)

5. for actions with expressions like already, before, ever, never, often, recently, still, yet, etc.:

Rain has already ruined the tomato crops.

Have you ever seen a UFO?

We still haven't discovered life on other planets.

They haven't sent an astronaut to Mars yet.

- The choice between the Past Simple or Present Perfect depends on wether the action links the past with the present:

She often took the bus. (= but doesn't any more)

She has often taken the bus. (= and so she might do it again)

- Regular verbs end in -ed in the both the Past Simple and the Past Participle (the form we use for the Present Perfect): worked, looked, played.

Present Perfect Continuous

We use the Present Perfect Continuous (Present form of have + been + -ing) to talk about actions whitch started in the past and which continue up to the moment of speaking. We use it especially when we are interested in the duration of the action:

I've been waiting for a whole hour!

1. Notice the difference between the Present Perfect Continuous and the Present Perfect Simple:

Present Perfect Simple	Present Perfect Continuous
I've done my homework.	I've been doing my homework.

2. The Present Perfect Simple emphasises the idea of completion (= the homework is finished); we use the Continuous form to indicate that the action has lasted for a period and is incomplete. Compare:

I've read the newspaper today. (= I've finished it)

I've been reading the Enciclopedia Britannica. ( = I haven't finished yet)

3. We often use the Present Perfect Continuous with for and since:

Those potatoes have been boiling for an hour.

And the carrots have been boiling since 3 o'clock