Hello Blake! You have a very good question, but it's a little hard to answer which one is used more. And although the differences between present perfect and past simple are not as clearly defined in Dutch as they are in English, both of these tenses do have their own uses. I will summarize the different uses here for you: Present Perfect: 1- Facts 2- Incidental events 3- Events in the past without an indication of time 4- Continuous actions Past simple: 5- Story-like descriptions 6- Habits 7- Refering to the past with an indication of time 8- Non-continuous actions Exempli Gratia: 1 De trein is vertrokken (simple fact) 2 Ik ben naar school geweest (I went to school once) 3 De trein is vertrokken (without time indication) 4 De trein is vertrokken (it has left in the past and is still on its way) 5 Er brandde in de open haard een vuur (A fire was burning in the hearth) 6 De trein vertrok altijd op woensdagochtend (habit) 7 De trein vertrok om 10 uur 's ochtends (past event with time indication) 8 De trein vertrok (It has left and arrived) That is it ! So you can see that they are pretty much each other's opposites. Incidental versus habit No Time indication Versus With Time indication Continuous verus non-continuous Fact versus story-telling I hope that it is clear for you and that you now have more confidence about when to use either of the tenses. If not, just let me know. Best of luck and study well!