Past simple or present perfect? That’s a difficult situation in some sentences. In the introduction to unit 7 I gave you a list of words that can immdediately tell you if you need a past simple or a present perfect. They are the following:
| PAST SIMPLE |
PRESENT PERFECT |
| AGO (… 5 years ago = fa cinc anys) | FOR (… for two months = durant dues setmanes) |
| IN + time reference (… in August, in 2004, in winter) | SINCE (… since 2005 = des del 2005) |
| YESTERDAY (ahir) | YET (encara no) |
| LAST (… last week = la setmana passada) | JUST (tot just, acabar de) |
| ALREADY (ja) | |
| EVER? (algun cop?) | |
| 0 (cap paraula) |
However, as you learn more and more English, you might find examples of sentences that contradict this rule. Don’t worry. Languages are complex and full of exceptions.
Practice what you know with these activities:
- Present perfect or past simple 1 (there are some exceptions, don’t worry)
- 52 sentences!! (some exceptions, but the majority are easy to answer).