Present perfect or past simple

How to form each tense

Many common verbs are irregular: go, went, gone. See the irregular verbs list.

Use the past simple for a finished time

Use the past simple when the time is over, and you say when or the listener knows when.

• I visited Rome in 2019.
• She called me yesterday.
• We moved here three years ago.
• When did you arrive? A question with "when" asks for a finished time.

Time words for the past simple yesterday, last week, last year, in 2010, two days ago, when I was a child, at 6 o'clock this morning.

Use the present perfect for a link to now

Experience at any time up to now

The exact time is not given and is not important.

• I have visited Rome. At some time in my life.
• Have you ever eaten sushi?
• She has never been to Asia.

A period that is not finished

• I have drunk three coffees today. Today is not over.
• We have had a lot of rain this month.

A past action with a result now

• I have lost my keys. I cannot find them now.
• He has broken his leg. It is still broken.

Something that started in the past and continues now

Use "for" with a length of time and "since" with a starting point.

• I have lived here for five years. I still live here.
• She has worked there since 2021. She still works there.

Compare: I lived there for five years. Past simple. I do not live there now.

Just, already, yet

• I have just finished. A very short time ago.
• We have already eaten. Before now, perhaps sooner than expected.
• Have you done it yet? I haven't done it yet. In questions and negatives.

American English often uses the past simple with these words: Did you eat yet? I already ate. British English prefers the present perfect.

The key rule

A conversation often starts in the present perfect and moves to the past simple for the details.

• A: Have you ever been to Japan?
• B: Yes, I have. I went there in 2022.
• A: Did you like it?

Been or gone?

• She has been to Paris. She went and came back.
• She has gone to Paris. She is there now, or on her way.

Common mistakes

Try the quiz

1. I ___ (see) that film last night.
2. ___ you ever ___ (try) Thai food?
3. She ___ (work) here since 2020.
4. We ___ (buy) this house ten years ago.
5. I can't open the door. I ___ (lose) my key.
6. He ___ (not finish) his homework yet.
7. When ___ they ___ (get) married?
8. I ___ (know) Maria for a long time. We are still good friends.
9. My grandfather ___ (live) in Madrid all his life. He died in 2015.
10. They ___ (be) to London three times this year.

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