Simple Past Tense vs. Present Perfect Tense
Although this topic has a few more points, this post will only cover one of the basic points of past vs. present perfect tenses. Today we focus on the timing of when to use these tenses.
Simple Past Tense
I wrote 5 emails yesterday
We use the simple past tense to show that something happened in the past and it is finished. These actions MUST be finished.
Some key words that indicate that an action is finished are:
I wrote 5 emails yesterday
We use the simple past tense to show that something happened in the past and it is finished. These actions MUST be finished.
Some key words that indicate that an action is finished are:
- last week
- 1 week ago
- yesterday
- a few days ago
- at
- on
- in
- when
Present Perfect Tense
I have written 3 emails today
We use the present perfect tense to show that something is not finished yet. These actions all feel that they are incomplete!
Some key words that indicate an action is unfinished are:
I have written 3 emails today
We use the present perfect tense to show that something is not finished yet. These actions all feel that they are incomplete!
Some key words that indicate an action is unfinished are:
- so far
- already
- yet
- this week
- just
- ever
- never
- been
- gone
