Simple present and past are the most statistically used tenses in English. How to distinguish past simple from present simple/perfect and use them appropriately?
The use of past or present depends on the context, and confusing simple tenses is usually difficult. The main difficulties arise when it is necessary to talk about events that have recently ended, those that are repeatedly repeated in the past and in the present, events that continue to this day.
Real
With the simple present tense, we talk about facts, habits, routines, feelings and emotions, states. Time is used when talking about things/events "in general" or about the frequency of doing things.
In the present simple tense, they talk not only about facts known to everyone, but also about what we personally consider to be a fact. The same can be said about the future action, which for us is a fact: I start my new job on Friday.
The adverbs of frequency can be considered as a marker of this tense. If the offer containswords "always" (always), "often" (often), "usually" (usually) and other adverbs of frequency of actions, most likely, this sentence is best formulated in the present simple.
Time is not used to describe events occurring at the current moment. To do this, use the extended time.
In the present simple, they usually formulate what always happens. But if it is meant that something negative is constantly happening, i.e. there is condemnation or annoyance in the message, use the present continuous tense.
For example, using the continued aspect, it is worth formulating the sentence "I constantly lose things", meaning that a person does this too often than he would like: I'm always losing things.
Past
The simple past is used to describe actions that started and ended in the past. In addition, it is used to talk about events that happened one after another in the past.
The key condition for the use of time is the assignment of the described events to a certain moment in the past. Usually, a specific moment is either implied and known to the listeners, or the moment is said in the story itself. For example: Yesterday I lost my book (yesterday I lost my book).
Markers of the simple past are words and expressions indicating a period that has already passed: last week (last week), yesterday (yesterday). To a simple past, it is easy to ask the question When? (When?).
Present and past
The present simple and past simple are similar in aspect. With the help of the first, they talk about facts that are always true, describe objects or talk about states. The second serves to describe events related to a certain moment in the past.
Difficulties usually arise with the separation of the perfect present and just the past. The differences between the past simple and the present perfect and present simple lie in the nuances of the described actions and situations. Context affects timing:
- action time;
- connection of the described action with the present one.
The key difference between past and present is the actuality of the situation they are talking about. Present covers all those "situations" in which a person lives, including his life. Therefore, if we are talking about something "I have never done this", then such an expression in English is in present time.
Time and Aspect
Past - everything that is no longer relevant, the irrelevance of which can be concluded either from the context or from a direct indication. The most obvious reference to the past is to refer the action to an apparently completed period.
Simple is one aspect of time. In simple, we talk about actions "in general". As a rule, in the past, these actions are not related to the present result or their duration. They just exist in the past. In present, they are descriptions, statements of states of objects or the person himself.
Perfect - another aspect of time, the present perfect is often confused with the past simple due to the fact that Russian speakers do nothave a habit of dividing situations into "relevant" and "irrelevant". For us, an action has either happened, or is happening (in principle or right now), or will happen. The shades of time in Russian can be indicated indirectly.
Relevance of the situation
The sentence in Russian "the rain is over" can be transmitted both through the simple past and through the completed present:
- It has stopped raining.
- It stopped raining.
In the first case, the speaker indicates that there is no rain now, this is the current situation, the rain has stopped and the speaker reports it. The statement is true at the time of speaking.
In Russian we could say "it just stopped raining" or "it's not raining anymore". In English, additional words may not be needed, grammar quite unambiguously binds the action to the time axis.
In the second case, the speaker indicates that there was rain in principle, it was once in the past, it can go again, we cannot conclude anything about the situation of the present from this sentence, because the situation is not relevant. The second sentence is a statement of the cessation of rain in the past, sometime, maybe a few minutes ago, or maybe not.
Repetitive and ongoing actions
How to distinguish the present perfect from the past simple when we talk about actions done several times in the past? Past is used to describe a sequence of different actions that refer to the past.simple. When talking about the same repeated actions in the past, use the present perfect.
You can determine the perfect aspect by keywords that are easy to insert into a sentence in the present perfect: already (already), just (just), yet (yet), this week (this week), in life (in my life), never (never). They show that the action is completed, although they refer to a still ongoing period of time, they emphasize the result or its absence in the context of the ongoing situation (I have never travelled).
How to distinguish the past simple from the present simple when we are talking about actual actions that started in the past? Usually, in this case, the present perfect continuous is used, but when talking about states, the long aspect is discarded (state verbs include the words: love, wish, like, etc.).
Past connected to the present
How to tell the past simple from the present simple when the action just happened? The action belongs to the present moment, but it has already been completed.
When we talk about past actions that relate to the current situation (ongoing, unfinished), we are talking about the present with a perfect aspect. The simple past tense always refers to a past situation, to a situation that was relevant in the past.
In English, the past simple and present perfect are often used together. When it is necessary to emphasize a certain fact that has been true up to the present, it is expressed in the simple past, and then information is added,which has come to light only now and introduces something new into the old fact, formulating it in the present perfect.
Thus, the difference of situations is emphasized, the transition from one situation to another, the first is the past, not relevant, so it is expressed through the past simple. For example, if Natasha lost her keys, and today her friends found them, then the first part can be formulated in the simple past (Nataly lost her key), and the second in the present perfect (but now we have found it).
If you use the present simple or past simple instead of the present perfect, then the sentence will lose its meaning or lose emphasis on the fact that the keys were found quite recently, that this is an actual situation.
CV
How to distinguish past simple from present simple/perfect and how to use:
Pay attention to what period of time the described action belongs to, the situation to which the action relates is relevant or not relevant. When the situation is not relevant, and it refers to the past tense, use the past simple. If the situation is relevant and the result of this situation is important, use the present perfect. When talking about facts that are always relevant - present simple.
Distinguish habitual actions that are repeated in a person's life from those that just repeated for a while. Habitual repetitive actions belong to the simple present. Repeated actions in the past - to the present perfect. A series of actions that occurred in the past - to a simple past.
New information is being toldin the present perfect, but continue to talk about it in the past simple. When it is required to speak about a general fact, to describe one's own or someone else's state, which we consider to be a fact, we use the present simple. When it is required to speak about a fact of the past, which refers to an irrelevant situation already experienced, the past simple tense is necessary. About an action / inaction that relates to the current situation, but the result of the action is already there, that is, it is completed, they say in the present perfect.
