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

Past Simple, Present Perfect or Past Perfect

English has several ways to talk about the past. Three of the most important are the past simple, the present perfect, and the past perfect. Each one tells us something slightly different about when something happened and how it connects to other events or to now.

Look at these three sentences:

• I visited Paris last year. (past simple)
• I have visited Paris before. (present perfect)
• I had visited Paris before I moved to London. (past perfect)

All three sentences are about visiting Paris, but they each give us different information. In this lesson, you will learn the rules for past simple, present perfect, and past perfect step by step.

What is the Past Simple?

We use the past simple to talk about something that finished in the past. We usually say when it happened, using a time word like yesterday, last week, in 2010, or two days ago.

Think of a completed action with a clear time label attached to it.

Past Simple: Example Story

Maria lives in Spain now. She is talking about her past:

• I moved to Madrid in 2015.
• I studied English at school.
• She called me yesterday.

The action is finished. We know exactly when it happened.

How to Form the Past Simple

For regular verbs, add -ed to the verb.

work → worked
call → called
visit → visited
live → lived

For irregular verbs, the form changes completely. You need to learn these.

go → went
have → had
see → saw
eat → ate
buy → bought

Past Simple: Positive, Negative, and Question

Form	Structure	Example
Positive	Subject + verb (past form)	She worked here last year.
Negative	Subject + did not (didn't) + base verb	She didn't work here last year.
Question	Did + subject + base verb?	Did she work here last year?

Note: In negatives and questions, we use did / didn't + the base verb (no -ed). We do not say Did she worked?

Common Time Words for Past Simple

• yesterday
• last week / last year / last Monday
• in 2010 / in March
• two days ago / a week ago
• when I was a child

What is the Present Perfect?

We use the present perfect to talk about the past when there is a connection to the present. The exact time is not important — or we do not say it. What matters is the result now, or the experience in your life up to now.

Think of it like a bridge between the past and the present.

Present Perfect: Example Story

Tom and Lisa are at a restaurant. They are choosing food:

• I have tried sushi before. It's delicious! (He tried it at some point in his life. It is still true now.)
• She has never eaten Thai food. (This is her experience up to now.)
• I have just finished my coffee. (It finished a moment ago. The effect is now.)
• He has lost his keys. (He lost them in the past. He still does not have them now — the result is present.)

How to Form the Present Perfect

The present perfect uses have / has + the past participle of the verb.

have/has + past participle

The past participle of regular verbs is the same as the past simple: add -ed.

work → worked
visit → visited
call → called

For irregular verbs, the past participle is often different from the past simple. You need to learn these:

go → went → gone
eat → ate → eaten
see → saw → seen
write → wrote → written
buy → bought → bought

Present Perfect: Positive, Negative, and Question

Form	Structure	Example
Positive	Subject + have/has + past participle	She has visited Italy.
Negative	Subject + have/has + not + past participle	She hasn't visited Italy.
Question	Have/Has + subject + past participle?	Has she visited Italy?

Have or Has?

Use have with: I, you, we, they
Use has with: he, she, it

Subject	Auxiliary verb	Example
I	have	I have eaten lunch.
You	have	You have seen this film.
He / She / It	has	She has finished her work.
We	have	We have lived here for two years.
They	have	They have moved to a new city.

Common Time Words for Present Perfect

• already (e.g. I have already eaten.)
• just (e.g. She has just arrived.)
• yet (e.g. Have you finished yet? / I haven't finished yet.)
• ever (e.g. Have you ever been to Japan?)
• never (e.g. I have never tried coffee.)
• for (e.g. I have lived here for three years.)
• since (e.g. He has worked here since 2019.)

What is the Past Perfect?

We use the past perfect to talk about something that happened before another past event. It helps us show which action happened first when we are talking about two things that both happened in the past.

Think of it as the "earlier past" — further back in time than the past simple.

Past Perfect: Example Story

Anna arrived at the cinema at 8:00 pm. The film started at 7:30 pm.

• When Anna arrived, the film had already started.

Two things happened in the past:

1. First: the film started. (earlier — past perfect: had started)
2. Second: Anna arrived. (later — past simple: arrived)

More examples:

• I was hungry at dinner because I hadn't eaten all day.
• She had never seen snow before she moved to Canada.
• By the time he called, I had already left the house.

How to Form the Past Perfect

The past perfect uses had + the past participle. We use had for ALL subjects (I, you, he, she, we, they).

had + past participle

Past Perfect: Positive, Negative, and Question

Form	Structure	Example
Positive	Subject + had + past participle	She had left before he arrived.
Negative	Subject + had not (hadn't) + past participle	He hadn't eaten when I called.
Question	Had + subject + past participle?	Had you met him before?

Common Time Words for Past Perfect

• already (e.g. She had already gone.)
• never (e.g. He had never seen the sea before.)
• by the time (e.g. By the time we arrived, they had left.)
• before (e.g. I had finished lunch before you arrived.)
• after (e.g. After I had studied, I watched TV.)
• when (e.g. When she arrived, the party had finished.)

Important Differences: Past Simple, Present Perfect, and Past Perfect

Past Simple vs Present Perfect

This is one of the most important differences to learn. Look at these pairs:

Past Simple	Present Perfect
I saw that film last night.	I have seen that film. (sometime in my life)
She worked in Paris in 2018.	She has worked in Paris. (experience, no specific time)
He lost his phone yesterday.	He has lost his phone. (result: he still doesn't have it)
They moved house last year.	They have just moved house. (very recently)

Key rule: If you use a specific finished time (yesterday, last year, in 2005, ago), always use the past simple. Do NOT use the present perfect with these time words.

Present Perfect vs Past Perfect

Present Perfect	Past Perfect
I have finished my homework. (now, recently)	I had finished my homework before dinner. (before another past event)
She has never tried sushi. (in her life up to now)	She had never tried sushi before she visited Japan. (before a past event)

Key rule: Use present perfect when the connection is to now. Use past perfect when the connection is to another past event.

A Timeline to Help You

Think of the timeline like this:

Past Perfect → Past Simple → Present Perfect → NOW

• Past perfect: The earliest action in a past story.
• Past simple: A finished action at a specific time in the past.
• Present perfect: A past action with a result or connection to right now.

All Three Tenses: Quick Comparison Table

Tense	Structure	Use	Example
Past Simple	verb + -ed (or irregular form)	Finished action at a specific past time	I worked there in 2018.
Present Perfect	have/has + past participle	Past experience or result connected to now	I have worked there before.
Past Perfect	had + past participle	Action that happened before another past action	I had worked there before I moved.

Contractions

In spoken English and informal writing, we often use contractions (short forms). Here are the most common ones for these three tenses:

Full Form	Contraction	Example
did not	didn't	She didn't come to the party.
I have	I've	I've already eaten.
she has	she's	She's just arrived.
have not	haven't	I haven't finished yet.
has not	hasn't	He hasn't called me.
I had	I'd	I'd already left when she arrived.
had not	hadn't	They hadn't met before.

Common Mistakes

❌ I have seen him yesterday.
✅ Use past simple with finished time words. I saw him yesterday.

❌ She has worked there in 2015.
✅ Use past simple with specific past years. She worked there in 2015.

❌ Did you ever eat sushi?
✅ Use present perfect for life experiences. Have you ever eaten sushi?

❌ When I arrived, the party already finished.
✅ Use past perfect for the earlier action. When I arrived, the party had already finished.

❌ She didn't visited the museum.
✅ Use the base verb after didn't. She didn't visit the museum.

❌ I have never saw that film before.
✅ Use the past participle after have/has. I have never seen that film before.

❌ He has had dinner before she called.
✅ Use past perfect when referring to before another past event. He had had dinner before she called. (Or more naturally: He had already eaten when she called.)

Past Simple, Present Perfect or Past Perfect: Quick Summary

Here are the key things to remember about past simple, present perfect, and past perfect:

• Use the past simple for finished actions at a specific time in the past (yesterday, last year, in 2010, ago).
• Use the present perfect (have/has + past participle) for past experiences, recent events, or actions with a result connected to now. Do NOT use specific finished time words with it.
• Use the past perfect (had + past participle) when you are talking about two past events and you need to show which one happened first.
• Regular past participles end in -ed. Irregular past participles must be learnt separately.
• Key time words help you choose: yesterday / ago / last year → past simple. just / already / yet / ever / never / for / since → present perfect. before / by the time / when + another past action → past perfect.

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