Present perfect vs past simple
Finished time or not? The single most common intermediate slip.
Twenty questions, instant feedback on every answer, and the full answer key below. No account, no ads.
Present perfect vs past simple: worked examples
Five from the set, with the answer filled in and the rule that decides it. The remaining questions are in the answer key below.
- 01
Have you ever eaten sushi?
ever asks about your whole life up to now → present perfect.
- 02
My sister has never flown abroad, this is her first time on a plane.
- 03
Guess what: Sam has just passed his driving test!
just announces news with no time mentioned → present perfect.
- 04
I've broken my arm. It happened when I fell off my bike yesterday.
Give the news in the present perfect, then the details in the past.
- 05
Don't take the plates away: I haven't finished eating yet.
yet in a negative sentence goes with the present perfect.
Answer key: all 24 questions
- 01Have you ever eaten sushi?
- 02My sister has never flown abroad, this is her first time on a plane.
- 03Guess what: Sam has just passed his driving test!
- 04I've broken my arm. It happened when I fell off my bike yesterday.
- 05Don't take the plates away: I haven't finished eating yet.
- 06Let's watch something else: we have already seen this one.
- 07Marco has lived in Berlin since 2018.
- 08We have known each other for twenty years and we're still best friends.
- 09How long have you lived in this flat? Since March?
- 10They got married three years ago.
- 11Oh no: I have lost my keys. I can't get into the house.
- 12When I was a child, we spent every summer by the sea.
- 13The company opened its first shop in 2019.
- 14So far this term I have missed only two lessons.
- 15I have seen three films this week, and it's only Tuesday.
- 16I saw three films last week: all of them at the same cinema.
- 17Shakespeare wrote Hamlet a few years before he died in 1616.
- 18We have had a lot of rain lately.
- 19It's the first time I have spoken on live television.
- 20What time did you get home last night?
- 21When did she leave the company?
- 22My parents are away, they've gone to Greece for two weeks.
- 23I'm back! I've just been to the shops.
- 24Nobody has seen Daniel since Friday, he has gone away without telling anyone.
- Past simple vs present perfectLook at the time, not the event.
The free level test places you on the CEFR scale in about ten minutes, and tells you which of these exercises is worth your time.
Find your level