Usage

todo https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html

Present

Present Simple

• Repeated Actions
  • 
  • I always brush my teeth before bed
  • I play tennis.
• Facts or Generalizations
  • 
  • The sun rises in the East
  • California is in America.
• Scheduled Near Futurefuture
  • 
  • The train arrives at 10pm tonight
  • When do we board the plane?
• Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)
  • 
  • She is not here now.
  • He needs help right now.
• condition - We will report as soon as we receive any information
• zero conditional - Ice melts if you heat it
• News Headlines of past events - Prime minister says traffic must be curbed
• History - 1945: the war in Europe comes to an end
• quoting someone ^[even if the words were spoken in the past] - Mary says she’s ready

Present Progressive

• Now
  • 
  • We are walking the dog
  • It’s raining in San Francisco right now
• Longer Actions in Progress Now
  • 
  • I am writing a book this month
• Near Futurefuture
  • 
  • He is playing golf tomorrow
  • What time is she arriving?
  • I’m going to take a few exams at the end of the year.
• Emphasize frequency of an action in a humorous or hyperbolic way. (with always, constantly)
  • 
  • He is always eating chocolate!
  • She is always coming to class late.
  • He is constantly talking. I wish he would shut up.

Present Perfect

• An ongoing action that started in the past, but has a result in the present

  • They have played piano since the age of three

Note that you can also use the present perfect continuous tense for this situation, as long as the action has not been completed yet (and it’s not a stative verb). The difference between the present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous tense, in this case, is emphasis:

• The present perfect tense emphasizes the effects or consequences of the action.
• The present perfect continuous tense emphasizes the action itself or the length of time.

• Unspecified time in the past

  • Experience
    • I have visited Paris many times
  • Change Over Time
    • My cousin has grown so much since I saw her two years ago
  • Accomplishments
    • Man has walked on the Moon.
    • Our son has learned how to read.
  • An Uncompleted Action You Are Expecting (in the negative)
    • I haven’t finished my paper, but it’s due in an hour!
    • James has not finished his homework yet.

• An action that was completed very recently (just, now)

  • Look! I have cooked dinner for us, It’s ready now

• To add significance to a completed action

  • I have met the love of my life!

Past

Past Simple

• Specified time in the past
  • I visited Paris last year
• Pasthabit
  • I visited them every day for a year
• Refer to a past state
  • I knew how to fight even as a child.
• Facts
  • Columbus discovered America in 1492
• Stative verbs
  • At three o’clock yesterday we were in the garden

Past progressive

• Parallel Actions
  • While you were washing the dishes, Sue was walking the dog.
• Ongoing background actions
  • When I was washing the dishes, I heard (past simple) a loud noise.
• Emphasizing how long a past action took - The children were playing in the park for the whole afternoon
• Storytelling/Atmosphere - The sun was shining, and the birds were singing…
• We were going to tell you earlier.
• Emphasize frequency
  • She was always coming to class late.
  • I didn’t like them because they were always complaining.

Past Perfect

• Event that took place before another event in the past - The train had left before we arrived (past simple) at the station
• Reported clauses - He saw that she had been able to cure herself.
• References to changed states - I had planned to work till I was sixty, but I can’t anymore.
• Hypothetical conditional clause - If I had left earlier, I would have caught the train