Past Simple and Present Perfect Practice Tests with A2 Grammar Rules & Examples

Past Simple and Present Perfect

In English, we use different verb tenses to talk about things that happened in the past. Two very important tenses are the past simple and the present perfect. They can look similar, but we use them in different situations.

Look at these two sentences:

"I visited Paris last year." → Past Simple
"I have visited Paris." → Present Perfect

Both sentences talk about the past, but they give us different information. In this lesson, you will learn when to use each tense, how to form them, and why they are different.

What Is the Past Simple?

We use the past simple to talk about something that happened at a specific time in the past. The action is finished. We know when it happened.

Think of your friend Maria. She says:

"I watched a film yesterday."
"We moved to London in 2015."
"He called me this morning."

Notice that these sentences all have a time word or phrase that tells us exactly when something happened. Words like yesterday, last week, in 2010, this morning, and ago are very common in past simple sentences.

How to Form the Past Simple

To make the past simple, we usually add -ed to the verb. These are called regular verbs.

Base Form	Past Simple	Example Sentence
walk	walked	She walked to school yesterday.
watch	watched	We watched a film last night.
visit	visited	They visited their grandparents last Sunday.
play	played	He played football on Saturday.
work	worked	I worked in a café two years ago.

However, many common verbs are irregular. This means they do not follow the -ed rule. You need to learn these separately.

Base Form	Past Simple	Example Sentence
go	went	I went to the supermarket yesterday.
eat	ate	She ate pizza for lunch.
see	saw	We saw a great film last weekend.
buy	bought	He bought a new jacket.
have	had	They had a party last Friday.
come	came	She came home late yesterday.

Past Simple: Positive, Negative, and Question Forms

Here is how we build past simple sentences. The word subject means the person or thing doing the action (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).

Form	Structure	Example
Positive	Subject + past verb	She visited Rome last summer.
Negative	Subject + did not (didn't) + base verb	She didn't visit Paris.
Question	Did + subject + base verb?	Did she visit Rome?

Important: In negative and question forms, we use did / didn't + the base form of the verb (not the past form).

❌ She didn't visited Rome.
✅ She didn't visit Rome.

❌ Did she visited Rome?
✅ Did she visit Rome?

What Is the Present Perfect?

We use the present perfect to talk about something that happened in the past but is connected to now. We do not say exactly when it happened. The result or experience is what matters.

Think of your friend James. He says:

"I have visited Paris." → He is talking about his life experience. We do not know when he went.
"She has lost her keys." → She lost them in the past, but the problem exists now — she still cannot find them.
"They have finished the homework." → The homework is done now. The result is important.

How to Form the Present Perfect

To make the present perfect, we use:

Subject + have / has + past participle

The past participle is the third form of a verb. For regular verbs, it is the same as the past simple (-ed form). For irregular verbs, you need to learn the third form.

Subject	have / has	Past Participle	Example
I	have	visited	I have visited London.
You	have	seen	You have seen this film before.
He / She / It	has	eaten	She has eaten already.
We	have	finished	We have finished the exercise.
They	have	gone	They have gone to the shops.

Note: We use have with I, you, we, they. We use has with he, she, it.

Common Irregular Past Participles

Base Form	Past Simple	Past Participle
go	went	gone
eat	ate	eaten
see	saw	seen
buy	bought	bought
have	had	had
write	wrote	written
speak	spoke	spoken
come	came	come
take	took	taken

Present Perfect: Positive, Negative, and Question Forms

Form	Structure	Example
Positive	Subject + have/has + past participle	I have seen that film.
Negative	Subject + have/has + not + past participle	I haven't seen that film.
Question	Have/Has + subject + past participle?	Have you seen that film?

Contractions in the Present Perfect

In spoken English and informal writing, we often use contractions (short forms) with the present perfect.

Full Form	Contraction	Example
I have	I've	I've finished my homework.
You have	You've	You've seen this before.
He has	He's	He's eaten lunch already.
She has	She's	She's bought a new bag.
We have	We've	We've been to Spain.
They have	They've	They've lived here for years.
have not	haven't	I haven't finished yet.
has not	hasn't	She hasn't called me.

Important Differences: Past Simple vs Present Perfect

This is the most important part of this lesson. Both tenses talk about the past, but they are used in very different situations.

1. Specific Time vs No Specific Time

Use the past simple when you say exactly when something happened.
Use the present perfect when you do not say exactly when.

Past Simple (specific time)	Present Perfect (no specific time)
I saw that film last Friday.	I have seen that film.
She visited Japan in 2019.	She has visited Japan.
They moved house two years ago.	They have moved house.

2. Finished Actions vs Results That Connect to Now

Use the past simple when the action is completely finished and does not connect to the present.
Use the present perfect when the result of a past action is still important now.

"I lost my wallet yesterday." → Past simple. It happened yesterday. (We focus on the event.)
"I've lost my wallet!" → Present perfect. I still don't have it. The situation affects the present.

3. Life Experiences

We use the present perfect to talk about things we have or have not done in our life — without saying exactly when.

"Have you ever eaten sushi?"
"Yes, I have. I tried it in Japan." → Notice: the first sentence uses the present perfect (no specific time), but the answer gives a specific detail using the past simple.

Key Time Words for Each Tense

Past Simple Time Words	Present Perfect Time Words
yesterday	already
last week / last year / last Monday	yet
two days ago / a year ago	just
in 2010 / in July / in the morning	ever / never
this morning (if the morning is finished)	recently / lately
when I was young	for / since

Using "just", "already", "yet", "ever", and "never"

These words are very common with the present perfect. Here is what they mean:

just = a very short time ago
"I've just arrived home."

already = before now, sooner than expected (positive sentences)
"She has already finished her work."

yet = until now (used in negatives and questions)
"I haven't eaten yet."
"Have you called her yet?"

ever = at any time in your life (used in questions)
"Have you ever been to Australia?"

never = at no time in your life (negative meaning)
"I have never tried skydiving."

Using "for" and "since"

We use for and since with the present perfect to talk about how long something has continued until now.

for = a period of time (a duration)
"I have lived here for three years."

since = from a point in time until now
"I have lived here since 2021."

for + period of time	since + point in time
for two hours	since 9 o'clock
for a week	since Monday
for six months	since June
for ten years	since 2014
for a long time	since I was a child

Past Simple and Present Perfect Together

Sometimes we use both tenses in the same conversation. We often start with the present perfect (to introduce a topic) and then use the past simple (to give details).

A: "Have you ever been to Italy?" (present perfect — life experience)
B: "Yes, I have. I went to Rome two years ago. I loved it!" (past simple — specific time and details)

This is very natural in everyday English conversation.

Common Mistakes

❌ I have seen her yesterday.
✅ I saw her yesterday. (Use past simple with "yesterday" — a specific time.)

❌ Did you ever visit Paris?
✅ Have you ever visited Paris? (Use present perfect with "ever" for life experiences.)

❌ She has gone to the party last night.
✅ She went to the party last night. (Use past simple with "last night" — a specific time.)

❌ I have finished my work two hours ago.
✅ I finished my work two hours ago. (Use past simple with "ago".)

❌ He has lived here since three years.
✅ He has lived here for three years. (Use "for" with a period of time, not "since".)

❌ Have you seen him yesterday?
✅ Did you see him yesterday? (Use past simple with "yesterday".)

❌ I didn't went to school today.
✅ I didn't go to school today. (Use the base form after "didn't", not the past form.)

❌ She haven't called me yet.
✅ She hasn't called me yet. (Use "hasn't" with he/she/it, not "haven't".)

Past Simple and Present Perfect: Quick Summary

Here is a quick reminder of everything you have learned in this lesson.

	Past Simple	Present Perfect
Use	Finished action at a specific time	Past action connected to now, or life experience
Form (positive)	Subject + past verb (regular: -ed)	Subject + have/has + past participle
Form (negative)	Subject + didn't + base verb	Subject + haven't/hasn't + past participle
Form (question)	Did + subject + base verb?	Have/Has + subject + past participle?
Key time words	yesterday, last week, ago, in 2010	just, already, yet, ever, never, for, since, recently
Example	I visited Spain last summer.	I have visited Spain.

Now practise past simple and present perfect in the exercises below.