{"id":6985,"date":"2020-11-30T07:47:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T07:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltweekly.com\/?p=6985"},"modified":"2020-11-30T07:47:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T07:47:34","slug":"past-simple-and-present-perfect-by-nick-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/?p=6985","title":{"rendered":"Past simple and present perfect by Nick Shepherd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here\u2019s a simple diagram to show the basic difference:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 The first sentence, \u201cI read [pron: \/red\/] the article\u201d, means that I read it three days ago, on Monday, and that\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2 The second sentence, \u201cI have read the article\u201d means that I read it during the last three days, and I have now finished it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 The third sentence, \u201cI have been reading the article\u201d, means that I started reading it, but I haven\u2019t finished. I will continue to read it into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"English<\/a>
English Literature Summit 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That seems straightforward, but the present perfect can be a bit of a nightmare, for two reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the connection between past and present may be literally true, as when you come home from work and call out to your family:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve arrived!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have literally just walked through the door, so the event starts in the past and finishes in the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a second possibility, which I look at below, when the connection with the present and future may be alive in your head, but is not real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, different parts of the English speaking world use the present perfect very differently – or don\u2019t use it at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I love to say: \u201cit\u2019s more complicated than that, but this is enough to start with\u201d. I\u2019ve written some notes on the more complicated stuff below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might also like to look at this video: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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