English B1 · Present perfect vs past simple
ภาษาอังกฤษ B1 หัวข้อ 1 4:29 การบรรยายภาษาอังกฤษ · คำบรรยายภาษาอังกฤษ + 中文 ลอยตัวบนภาพ
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Transcript
You know both doors from A2. B1 is where you stop knowing the rules and start choosing correctly under pressure. The memory hook: the past simple is a photograph; the moment is framed and over. The present perfect is a shadow; the event is behind you, but it still touches your feet. I lost my keys yesterday: a photograph. I have lost my keys: a shadow, because I can't get in right now. One test decides: is the time finished and named? Yes, the simple. No, the perfect.
The time words give the answer. Closed times take the simple: yesterday, last week, in twenty nineteen, two days ago. Open times take the perfect: today, this week, since, for, ever, never, just, already, yet. And today is open only while it lasts: I have had three coffees today, said at noon; I had three coffees today, said at midnight, when today closed its door on both of us.
Pause and choose. I have seen him twice this week. This week is still running, so the door is open and the perfect counts the sightings. Saw would bury the week while we are still living in it.
English has a rhythm here: the perfect opens a topic, and the simple carries the details. I have been to Chengdu, the experience, the open door. I went there in twenty twenty-three; I ate hotpot every day, the details, closed doors. News works the same way: the head teacher has announced a holiday, fresh news; she announced it this morning, the detail. And never I have been there in twenty twenty-three; the moment you name the time, the perfect is illegal.
Pause and choose. Yes, I tried it in Chengdu. The question opened the door with have you ever, and the answer closes it by naming the time and place. Have tried would reopen a door the details already shut, which is the yesterday assassin wearing a travel costume.
Two questions that sound alike and answer different lives. How long did you live in Beijing: the period is over; he lives somewhere else now. How long have you lived in Beijing: the period is still running; he is still there. One tense choice answers a question nobody asked aloud: where does he live now? English speakers hear the answer inside your tense, which is why this pair is the soul of the topic.
Pause and choose. Somewhere else. I lived in Beijing for five years buries the period; the shadow no longer touches his feet. I have lived in Beijing for five years would keep him there, and the other two options are physics problems, not grammar.
The deepest trap: le marks completion, not time, so wo chi le fan can become I ate or I have eaten; the Chinese does not decide. Ask the time instead: finished and named, closed door; still relevant, open door. And the most common B1 error in captivity: I have seen him yesterday. Yesterday kills the perfect. Every time. No exceptions, no mercy, and examiners plant it lovingly.
Play open door, closed door with a partner. Shadow, then photograph: I have finished my homework, so I am free now; I finished it twenty minutes ago. The interview: have you ever eaten durian? Yes, I have; I tried it in Malaysia, and I have never fully recovered. And the count: we have had four English lessons this week; it is only Wednesday; pray for us.
Pause for four checks. I saw that film yesterday: a named time, a closed door. I have lost my keys: the shadow is on your feet right now. She has lived here since twenty fifteen: since is a start line, for is a tape measure. And I tried it in Chengdu: the details close the door the question opened. Next topic: the present perfect continuous, the shadow that is still moving.