Differences between Past Simple and Present Perfect #1

Two key differences between when you should use Past Simple tense and when you should use Present Perfect tense.

Steven Asplin

10/4/20241 min read

a man riding a skateboard down the side of a ramp
a man riding a skateboard down the side of a ramp

👋 Good morning/afternoon team! 🌞

It’s a glorious morning here in the UK 🇬🇧

Today we’re going to look at some of the differences between Past Simple tense and Present Perfect tense.

If it is a completed action in a finished time period we use Past Simple tense.

e.g (for example)

🅰️ I started learning Ukrainian ten years ago.

- for this sentence the verb ‘to start’, is used in Pa. Simple, because the action is complete and it happened a long time ago.

🅱️ I’ve just started learning Ukrainian.

- for this sentence the verb ‘to start’, is used in Pr. Perfect, because it is important recent news, with no specific time markers.

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