Unit 14 Present perfect and past (2) (I have done and I did)

Do not use the present perfect (I have done) when you talk about a finished time (for example yesterday/ten minutes ago/in 1985/when I was a child). Use a past tense:

The weather was nice yesterday. (not ‘has been nice’) They arrived ten minutes ago. (not ‘have arrived’) I ate a lot of sweets when I was a child. (not ‘have eaten’) Did you see the news on television last night (not ‘Have you seen’) no, I went to bed early. (not ‘have gone’).

Use a past tense to ask When...? or What time...?

When did they arrive? (not ‘have they arrived’) What time did you finish work?

Present perfect: Tom has lost his key. He can’t get into the house.

Here, we are not thinking of the past action. We are thinking of the present result of the action: Tom doesn’t have his key now.

Past simple: Tom lost his key yesterday. He couldn’t get into the house.

Here, we are thinking of the action in the past. We don’t know from this sentence whether Tom has his key now.

We use the present perfect for a period of time that continues from the past until now. For example, today, this week, since 1985. The present perfect always has a connection with now.

We use the past simple for a finished time in the past. For example, yesterday, last week, from 1985 to 1991. The past simple tells us only about the past.

I’ve done a lot of work today.

I did a lot of work yesterday.

It hasn’t rained this week.

It didn’t rain last week.

Have you seen Ann recently?

Did you see Ann on Sunday?

I don’t know where Ann is. I haven’t seen her. (=I haven’t seen her recently)

Was Ann at the party on Sunday? I don’t think so. I didn’t see her.

We’ve been waiting for an hour. (we are still waiting now)

We waited (or were waiting) for an hour. (we are no longer waiting)

Ian lives in London. He has lived there for seven years.

Ian lived in Scotland for ten years. Now he lives in London.

I have never played golf. (in my life)

I didn’t play golf when I was on holiday last summer.