Past simple or present pefect.
Time expressions
Past simple
When
Ago
Yesterday
Last + week/month
etc...
The day before...
Earlier
Present perfect
Just
Since
Already
Yet
For the past /last
Ever since
Ever..?
For ... years/weeks
etc...
A long time
recently
1. Tom________(live) in Zaragoza for the past 15 years.
2. Claire _______ (work) for S&B before she came to work for us.
3. Tom, __________(you/finish) reading the paper yet?
4. I would love to visit Paris. I _______(be/never) there.
5. Luis __________(play) tennis for five years when he _________(be) at school.
6. Can you help me? I ________(finish) my homework, but I still don't understand this
exercise.
7. He ________ (work) in Germany for 3 years. He ________(begin) work as soon as he
arrived.
8. I'm not hungry, I'm afraid. I ___________(eat/already).
9. When Claude was at school, she ______(learn) to play the saxophone. She
_________(play) it ever since.
10. My brother ________(grow) a moustache since I last saw him.
Mother: I want to prepare dinner. ____________(you / wash) the dishes yet?
Daughter: I ________ (wash) the dishes yesterday, but I _________(have / not) time yet
to do it today.
Mother: ________________(you / do / already) your homework?
Daughter: No, I ____________(come / just) home from school.
Mother: You _____________(come) home from school two hours ago!
Daughter: Well, but my friend Lucy ____________(call) when I __________(arrive) and I
________ (finish / just)
the phone call.
Mother: ____________(you / see / not) Lucy at school in this morning?
Daughter: Yes, but we ___________(have / not) time to talk earlier.
-
Present perfect or past simple?
A: I _________ (cycle/just) 50 km.
B: I __________ (cycle) 100 km last week.
A: I __________ (write) an essay yesterday.
B: I__________ (write / already) two essays this term.
A: I __________ (ring / just) my friend.
B: I __________ (ring) my friend 10 minutes ago.
A: Two days ago, I _________ (watch) a Madonna concert on TV.
B: I __________ (see / already) Madonna live in concert.
A: I __________ (spend) my summer holiday in Australia last year.
B: I ___________(be / not) to Australia yet.
1. She ____________ (put on) a lot of weight recently.
2. _________ __ you ever (have) a pet? Yes, I _________(have) a dog when I lived with
my parents.
3. My parents _________ (live) in Paris for ten years and then they moved to Hamburg.
They _________ (live) in Hamburg for five years now.
4. The king _______ (visit) a lot of poor countries.
5. When ______________(you /give up) smoking?
Oh, a long time ago. I_________ (not smoke) since 2000.
6. My great-grandfather __________ (die) forty years ago. I _________(never/meet) him.
7. I don't know Jane's fianc. I __________(never /meet) him.
8. When we were on holiday, the weather _______(be) awful. Since we came back, the
weather ________(be) great.
9. How long you ________ (study) English? For five years now. I ________(start) when I
______ (finish) university.
10. My bicycle is not here anymore. Someone __________ (take) it.
Past simple or past perfect????
PAST
SIMPLE TENSE:
Past tense focuses on an event or a series of events.
No particular importance is placed on timing.
The events are reported in the sequence (order) that they happened.
FIRST EVENT
EVENT
First, Jill stopped at an ATM.
lunch.
First, Jill took her friends to lunch.
First, they sat down.
dropped his tray on their table.
First, they stood up to leave.
dropped his tray on their table.
SECOND
Then she took her friends out to
Then she stopped at an ATM.
Then the waiter tripped and
Then the waiter tripped and
PAST PERFECT TENSE:
Past perfect contrasts the timing of two events and places emphasis on the
timing of the first event which has an effect on the second event. "good or bad
timing"
EARLIER EVENT
Jill had stopped at an ATM
(good timing)
Jill had taken her friends to lunch
They had just sat down
tray on their table. (bad timing)
They had just stood up to leave
tray on their table. (good timing.)
LATER EVENT
before she took her friends out to lunch.
before she stopped at an ATM. (bad timing)
when the waiter tripped and dropped his
when the waiter tripped and dropped his
Remember:
1 event is PAST PERFECT.
2 event is PAST SIMPLE
It doesnt matter which one you write first, what is important is which action
happened first.
Use after, as soon as, the moment that, until + past perfect
After she had moved out, I found her notes.
She went home as soon as she had finished
Until she had eaten, she didnt go out
She closed the door the moment that he had left
Use before, when, by the time + past simple.
Actions at the same time or a series of actions are in the past simple.
Before I knew it, she had run out the door.
By the time he phoned her, she had found someone new.
When she saw him, she ran up to him and hugged him. (series of events in
chronological order)
First she phoned Paul. Then she met him and finally they went to the cinema.
Complete the sentences with the Past Simple or Past Perfect of the verbs in
brackets.
1. My aunt flew to Paris last year. She __________ (never / go) on a plane before
that.
2. We didnt need to queue because my wife __________ (already / buy) the tickets
3. The thieves had already spent the money when the police _________ (catch)
them.
4. Helen ________ (split up) with John before she met Paul.
5. We ________ (know) her address because she _______ (tell) us.
6. The children _________ (not eat) for days so they ___________ (be) extremely
hungry.
7. Everyone ___________ (hug) each other after they __________ (finish) their
exams.
8. She didnt want to go to the cinema because she ___________(already / see)
the film.
9. I ________ (just / buy) a dress when a thief _______ (steal) my bag.
10. My niece _________ (go) to London three times by the time she _________ (be)
sixteen.
11. My students _____ (raise) some money after they ______(see) a documentary
on TV about Africa.
12. It was half past three and we still _________ (not / eat) lunch.
13. Our teacher ________ (give) us extra homework because ___________ (not
finish) our essays.
14. My father _________ (lose) his glasses and he couldnt read the newspaper.
15. The car stopped because we __________ (run) out of petrol.
16. He __________ (feel) very ill because he __________ (not sleep) well.
17. By the time I met John, he ___________ (leave) college
18. When I _________ (ask) her to help me, she ________ (agree).
19. I thought I _________ (read) that book before, but I hadnt.
20. I knew I __________ (see) her somewhere before.
21. I was sure I __________ (not lock) the door.
22. When we ___________ (get) home my wife realized she __________ (lose) her
purse.
23. When we arrived at my parents house, they ________ (leave)
24. After I ______ (buy) my new computer, I discovered that I ______ (not have)
enough money.
25. The Vikings ________ (sail) to North America a thousand years ago.
1. We had already eaten when John ____________(come) home.
2. Last year Juan __________________ (pass) all his exams.
3. When I ________________ (get) to the airport I discovered I had forgotten my
passport.
4. I went to the library, then I _________________ (buy) some milk and went home.
5. I opened my handbag to find that I ______________ (forgot) my credit card.
6. When we _______________ (arrive) at the station, the train had already left.
7. We got home to find that someone ____________ (break) into the house.
8. I opened the fridge to find someone ________________ (eat) all my chocolate.
9. I had known my husband for three years when we ____________ (get) married.
10. Julie was very pleased to see that John ____________ (clean) the kitchen.
11. It _____________ (not / rain) all summer, so the grass was completely dead.
12. When he _____________ (arrive) at the party, Julie had just left.
13. After arriving home, I realized that I _______________ (not / buy) any milk.
14. The laundry was wet because it ________________ (rain) while I was out.
15. William felt ill last night because he _____________ (eat) too many cakes.
16. Keiko _______________ (meet) William last September.
17. First I tidied the flat, then I _________ (sit) down and had a cup of coffee.
18. John ________________(play) the piano when he was a child, but he doesnt play
now.
19. When I opened the curtains the ground was white. It _________ (snow) during the
night.
20. When Julie got home from her holiday, her flat was a mess. John ___________
(have) a party.
