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Kateryna Velyka
Professionele leerkracht🤯 Present Perfect vs Past Simple — why do students mix them up all the time?
Let’s make it EASY 👇
🔹 Past Simple = finished action in the past
🕒 We know when it happened.
✅ I lost my keys yesterday.
✅ She watched Netflix last night.
✅ We ate pizza at 8 pm.
➡️ The action is DONE. Finished. History. Ancient times. 🏺
🔹 Present Perfect = past action connected to NOW
🕒 Time is not important / not finished / result now.
✅ I have lost my keys. (Now I can’t get in 😭)
✅ She has watched that series. (So she knows the spoilers 😈)
✅ We have eaten pizza. (So we’re not hungry now… probably)
E.G.:
❌ I have seen him yesterday.
✅ I saw him yesterday.
Because yesterday = finished past time.
Another one:
✅ I have cleaned my room.
(Translation: please admire me immediately.)
✅ I cleaned my room last week.
(And now it’s messy again.)
💡 Easy trick:
If you say yesterday / last year / in 2020 / two hours ago → use Past Simple
If you talk about life experience / result now / no exact time → use Present Perfect
✅ I have been to Spain.
✅ I went to Spain in 2022.
Tell me in comments:
Have you ever confused these tenses? 😅
29 apr. 2026 20:11
Kateryna Velyka
Taalvaardigheden
Chinees (Mandarijn), Engels, Overige, Russisch, Oekraïens
Taal die wordt geleerd
Overige
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