Present perfect & simple past

Function, structure & language features

 The function
1. Present perfect
We use this tense to talk about:
● An action that happened at an unspecified time
● An action that has recently occurred
● Actions that began in the past and continue to the present
● An action that happened repeatedly before now
2. Simple past
We use this tense to talk about:
● An action that began and ended at a particular time in tne past.
● An action that occurred over a peiod of time but was completed in the past.
● An activity that took place regularly in the past.
So, the difference in its function is that we use present perfect tense to talk about actions or events that happened at
some unspecified time before now, and that have some effect or influence on the present. while The simple past tense
shows that you are talking about something that has already happened. it is tells us that an action happened at a certain
time in the past, and is not continuing anymore.
 Structure & language features
The present perfect tense is formed with the auxiliary verb “have” or “has” and the past participle (verb 3). “Have” is
paired with the subjects I, You, We, and They while “Has” is used for the subjects He, She, and It. Present Perfect
Tense FormulaSubject + Have/Has + Verb-3.
While simple past tense is using auxiliary “did”. In simple past tense sentences, the verb used is the second form of
the verb. There are two types of verbs, namely regular verbs and irregular verbs. For regular verbs, add -ed/-d after the
first form of the verb.
Thank You!