Past Simple / Past Continuous / Present Perfect (4th Secondary)

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1Finished events in the past with no connection to the present:

 Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.
The Vikings invaded Britain.

2With a finished time word (yesterday, last week, at 2 o'clock, in 2003):

 I went to the cinema yesterday.
We visited Japan in 2007.

3For stories / lists of events:

 He went to a café, sat down and lit a cigarette.
Yesterday I went to the library, met a friend for lunch, and playedtennis
.
4Details of news:

 I've hurt my leg. I fell off a ladder when I was painting my bedroom.
I've been on holiday. I went to Spain and Portugal.

5As part of the second conditional:

 If I won the lottery, I would buy a house in Chelsea.
If she knew his number, she would call him.

1A continuous action in the past which is interrupted by another action or a time:

 I was taking a bath when the telephone rang.
At three o'clock, I was working.

2Background information, to give atmosphere to a story:

 It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing, the sun was shiningand in the cafes people were laughing and chatting.

3An annoying and repeated action in the past, usually with 'always':

 He was always leaving the tap running.
(In the same way as the Present Continuous)

4For two actions which happened at the same time in the past:

 I was watching TV and he was reading.

*Pay attention to STATIVE VERBS
                                                      


1 Unfinished Actions
We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions that started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say 'how long' an action or state has continued with 'since' and 'for'. Often, we use stative verbs in this situation:
  • I've known Karen since 1994.
  • She's lived in London for three years.
'Since' and 'For'
We use 'since' with a fixed time in the past (2004, April 23rd, last year, two hours ago). The fixed time can be another action, indicated with the past simple (since I was at school, since I arrived):
  • I've known Sam since 1992.
  • I've liked chocolate since I was a child.
  • She's been here since 2pm.
We use 'for' with a period of time (2 hours, three years, six months):
  • I've known Julie for ten years.
  • I've been hungry for hours.
  • She's had a cold for a week.
2 Finished Actions

 Life experience
(we don't say when the experience happened, just sometime in the past)
  • I have been to Tokyo.
  • She has lived in Germany.
  • They have visited Paris three times.
  • We have never seen that film.
  • Have you ever read 'War and Peace'?
A finished action with a result in the present (focus on result)
  • I've lost my keys (so I can't get into my house).
  • She's hurt her leg (so she can't play tennis today).
  • They've missed the bus (so they will be late).
  • I've cooked dinner (so you should come and eat).
With an unfinished time word (this month, this week, today, in the last year)
  • I haven't seen her this month.
  • She's drunk three cups of coffee today.
  • This week they've been shopping four times.
Note: We can't use the present perfect with a finished time word:
  • I've seen him yesterday.
'Been' and 'Gone'
In this tense, we use both 'been' and 'gone' as the past participle of 'go', but in slightly different circumstances.
Been
We use 'been' (often when we talk about 'life experience') to mean that the person being talked about has visited the place, and come back. Notice the preposition 'to':
  • I've been to Paris (in my life, but now I'm in London, where I live).
  • She has been to school today (but now she's back at home).
  • They have never been to California.
Gone
We use 'gone' (often when we are talking about an action with a result in the present) to mean that the person is at the place now:
  • 'Where's John?' 'He's gone to the shops' (he's at the shops now).
  • Julie has gone to Mexico (now she's in Mexico).
  • They've gone to Japan for three weeks (now they're in Japan).

Carmen María

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