Present perfect and past (2)

14 Unit

Present perfect and past (2) (I have done and I did)

Do not use the present perfect (I have done) when you talk about a finished time (for example, yesterday / ten minutes ago / in 1985 / when I was a child). Use a past tense:

• The weather was nice yesterday, (not 'has been nice')

• They arrived ten minutes ago. (not 'have arrived')

• I ate a lot of sweets when I was a child, (not 'have eaten') -

• A: Did you see the news on television last night? (not 'Have you seen') â: No, I went to bed early, (not 'have gone')

Use a past tense to ask When...? or What time...?:

• When did they arrive? (not 'have they arrived')

• What time did you finish work?

Compare:

Present perfect Past simple

• Tom has lost his key. He can't get into • Tom lost his key yesterday. He

the house, couldn't get into the house.

Here, we are not thinking of the past action. Here, we are thinking of the action in the

We are thinking of the present result of the past. We don't know from this sentence

action: Tom doesn't have his key now. whether Tom has his key now.

Compare present perfect and past:

Present perfect (have done) Past simple (did)

• I've done a lot of work today. • I did a lot of work yesterday.

We use the present perfect for a period of We use the past simple for a finished time

time that continues from the past until now. in the past. For example, yesterday, last

For example, today, this week, since 1985. week, from 1985 to 1991.

ã unfinished-i r— finished—i

è.,,,,, today yesterday.'

past now past now

• It hasn't rained this week. • It didn't rain last week.

• Have you seen Ann this morning? • Did you see Ann this morning?

(it is still morning) (it is now afternoon or evening)

• Have you seen Ann recently? • Did you see Ann on Sunday?

• I don't know where Ann is. I haven't • A: Was Ann at the party on Sunday?

seen her. (= I haven't seen her recently) B: I don't think so. I didn't see her.

• We've been waiting for an hour. • We waited (or were waiting) for an

(we are still waiting now) hour. (we are no longer waiting)

• lan lives in London. He has lived there • lan lived in Scotland for ten years.

for seven years. Now he lives in London.

• I have never played golf. (in my life) • I didn't play golf when I was on

holiday last summer.
The present perfect always has a connection The past simple tells us only about the
with now,- See Units 7-12. past. See Units 5-6.