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Present perfect vs past simple
도입됨저장된 위치는 이 브라우저에 유지됩니다. 계속하기는 수업을 완료하거나 질문에 답하는 것이 아닙니다.
Two ways to look at the past
- Both tenses talk about the past — but in different ways.
- Past simple = a finished time. Present perfect = connected to now.
- I saw it yesterday. / I have seen it.
I lost my keys yesterday; I have found three old receipts since.
Finished time → past simple
- Use the past simple with a finished past time.
- yesterday, last week, in 2019, two days ago.
- We met in 2018. She called an hour ago.
Connected to now → present perfect
- Use the present perfect to look back from now, for example when describing experience up to now or a result that matters now. A finished past-time phrase needs a different viewpoint.
- I have visited Japan. He has just left.
- It matters now — the result or the experience. Past simple can also describe recent events, especially in American English; being recent does not force a perfect form.
Complete: Have you ever ___ (be) to London?
난이도 1/5 · 100 코인 + 오늘 첫 완료 시 소액 보너스
Experience with “ever” → present perfect: “Have you ever been …?”
Clues, not automatic switches
- Past simple: yesterday, … ago, last …, in 2019.
- Words such as already, ever and for are clues, not tense rules by themselves. Compare I lived there for a year (a finished period) with I have lived here for a year (a period reaching now).
- In ordinary standard usage, do not attach yesterday or an hour ago directly to the present-perfect event: say I finished it yesterday.
Which tense does the signal word want?
A finished time → past simple; an open / 'up to now' word → present perfect.
Choose the correct sentence.
난이도 1/5 · 100 코인 + 오늘 첫 완료 시 소액 보너스
“yesterday” is a finished time → past simple: “I saw him yesterday.”
Is this correct? “I have finished my homework an hour ago.”
난이도 1/5 · 100 코인 + 오늘 첫 완료 시 소액 보너스
“an hour ago” is a finished time → past simple: “I finished … an hour ago.”
Practise the present perfect: translate into English, 我从没去过北京。
난이도 3/5 · 200 코인 + 오늘 첫 완료 시 소액 보너스
The requested present-perfect form looks back over experience up to now: I have never been to Beijing. Never can also occur with other tenses in other time frames.
Common mistakes
- To ask the time of one completed arrival, use When did you arrive? A different question, such as When have you ever arrived early?, can use present perfect; the word when itself does not ban it.
- ❌ This is the first time I go here. → ✓ …the first time I have been here.
- I finished just now and I have just finished are useful patterns. I just finished is also common, especially in American English. Read the context rather than choosing from just alone.
Which sentence is correct?
난이도 1/5 · 100 코인 + 오늘 첫 완료 시 소액 보너스
last year is an exact past time → past simple.
Which word means a very short time before now? I have ___ finished the report.
난이도 1/5 · 100 코인 + 오늘 첫 완료 시 소액 보너스
Just expresses very recent completion. Already means before now or earlier than expected; yet normally occurs in questions or negatives in this pattern. I just finished is also common, especially in American English.
- Finished past time → past simple.
- Experience up to now or a current result can use present perfect.
- Read the time frame and intended meaning; a word such as just does not decide the tense alone.
Grammar guidance checked 2026-10-19: British Council, present perfect.
Write one sentence about something you have done recently, using the present perfect (no exact time).
난이도 3/5 · 200 코인 + 오늘 첫 완료 시 소액 보너스
Example: “I have just finished a good book.”