Hola Amy
Your question is complicated to answer because the use of past verbal tenses differs among different countries.
For example:
John, come to have lunch with us!
I can't. I have arrived late today and I have a lot of work.
In Spain:John, ven a comer con nosotros!
No puedo. Hoy he llegado tarde y tengo mucho trabajo.
In Argentina (and other latin countries)
John, vení a almorzar con nosotros!
No puedo. Hoy llegué tarde y tengo mucho trabajo.
In general where english speakers use the present perfect tense, spanish people use "he tenido" (pretérito perfecto = present perfect in english) too, but latin people use "tuve" (pretérito indefinido= past simple).