Usages

Sheila has joined the Sierra Club.Sheila joined the Sierra Club.

The use of the present perfect has more to do with our present perspective on the event rather than on the actual time at which it took place.

The simple past tense occurs with specific past-time adverbials. The core meaning of the past tense is remoteness. The use of specific past-time adverbials (e.g., yesterday, last year, 1990) makes the past tense obligatory. The use of certain more general temporal adverbials is commonly associated with the perfect (e.g., already, since, yet).

Organise the phrases in the next slide into three columns headed used with simple past, used with present perfect and used with either.

Up to nowIn the last

century

During Kennedy’s

lifetime

Over the last hundred

years or so

For three months

Three months ago

Since three months ago

RecentlyThis is the first time I

LatelyThroughout

the 17th century

Since the Vietnam War

TodayWithin the last three months

After the Second

World War

In the last centuryduring Kennedy’s lifetimeThree months agoThroughout the 17th century

Up to nowOver the last hundred years or soSince three months agoThis is the first time ILatelySince the Vietnam WarWithin the last three months

For three monthsRecentlyTodayAfter the Second World War

Even if a past-time adverbial isn’t explicit, the remoteness may be defined elsewhere in the context or simply implied:

John Lennon was a creative genius.

The past tense is used for a completed historical period versus an incomplete one:

My father lived here all his life. My father has lived here all his life.

The function of the present perfect is to change the nature of the relationship between the subject and predicate – it emphasizes the predicated event’s result.

I’ve been to Japan twice already, but I still don’t speak much Japanese.

Past simple is used by speakers to talk about past events which are, or which they regard as, finalised, or over and done with.

Present perfect is used by speakers to talk about events which are still current, or which they want to highlight as being incomplete or still relevant.