Life experiences: past simple vs present perfect

✦ A communicative guide to the tense pair students mix most: a finished yesterday versus an experience up to now · Inglés · Lenguajes · y te lleva 8 minutos

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Objetivo: Distinguish when to use the past simple (finished time) and the present perfect (life experience, unfinished time) to talk about what you have done.

8 min 14–15 años

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Life experiences: past simple vs present perfect

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Contenido modificado tras su publicación Fernando Castro

Lo que aprendesDistinguish when to use the past simple (finished time) and the present perfect (life experience, unfinished time) to talk about what you have done.

Datos8 min · 14–15 años · Inglés

Temas Secundaria · 3.º Inglés Lenguajes #SEP Fase 6 #3.º de secundaria #verb tenses #speaking #experience

Plan oficialSEP NEM

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Past simple vs present perfect

Both tenses talk about the past, but they see it differently. Use the PAST SIMPLE for a finished moment (yesterday, in 2020, last year). Use the PRESENT PERFECT for an experience in your life up to now, with no specific time (ever, never, already, yet).

The key signal

Iron Man Experience Presented by AIA.jpg — Imagen libre de Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0, autor: Fred Cherrygarden)

Present Perfect or Past Simple? - English Grammar lesson

Video de apoyo en YouTube (canal: Learn English with Papa Teach Me). Lumbre no aloja ni controla el contenido enlazado.

Finished time word -> past simple: I visited Oaxaca last summer.
No time / life until now -> present perfect: I have visited Oaxaca three times.
Question with ever -> present perfect: Have you ever eaten tlacoyos?

Form quick check

Past simple: verb + ed, or the irregular second column (go -> went). Present perfect: have/has + past participle (third column: go -> gone, eat -> eaten).

Worked example

Sentence: Last year she (travel) to Spain. -> A finished time (last year) asks for past simple: travelled.
Sentence: She (travel) to five countries. -> No time, it is her experience so far: has travelled.

Practice with feedback

Choose: ___ you ever ___ sushi?

Choose: We ___ that film yesterday.

I have lost my keys, so I cannot open the door now uses the present correctly.

She (live) in Cancun since 2019.

Common errors

Using the present perfect with a finished time: I have seen it last week (wrong).
Forgetting the past participle: I have went (wrong; it is gone).
Adding did to a has question: Did you have eaten (wrong; Have you eaten).

Why this matters

Talk about your experiences, in job interviews, trips and exams: this tense pair is one of the most heard in real English.

Conecta

Write three sentences about your life: two experiences with present perfect and one finished event with past simple.

Use ever or never for the experiences and a date word for the finished event.

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Explicación visual: Life experiences: past simple vs present perfect

Life experiences: past simple vs present perfect
The key signal
Common errors
Escena 4
Antes de continuar, responde mirando esta idea. Mira la escena «Common errors». Con tus palabras: ¿qué explica y por qué importa? Añade un ejemplo tuyo y señala qué parte aún te confunde.