PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE PAST?
PRESENT PERFECT -�This tense�looks in the present at actions completed in the past - so�there is always some kind of�connection with the present.
a)�RECENT PAST ACTIONS -��for recently finished�past actions�whose results are still visible in the present - "Look! The taxi has (just) arrived." (the taxi is probably still parked outside).
b) GENERAL PAST EXPERIENCES - for actions which happened in an indefinite time (we are not interested in when, but in the action itself) - "Have you ever been to New York?" - No, but I have been to Washington."
c) UNFINISHED�ACTIONS - for actions which started in the past but which continue up to the present moment - "I have lived here since 1998." (and I will continue to live here).
SIMPLE PAST - This tense refers to a specific occasion in the past and to the details of what happened - so it is a completely finished past action with no connection with the present - "I went to Disneyland last year." - "Really? Did you like it?" (it tells us when something happened - so unlike the Present Perfect it is a definite past).
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PRACTISE
a) Read and choose the correct alternative:
� 1. He  �for the lift for over 10 minutes.2. � any gold yet? - Yes, he has.
3. Richard � the tickets for "Avatar" yesterday.
4. He still�� a shower.
5.�My football team � the cup twice so far.
6. The alarm clock  at 7 a.m.
7. Kevin � the school bus last Monday.
8. I � �my paperwork.
9.�� a lot of pictures when you visited Paris?
10.�He � �United's�best football player in 2008.
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b) Read and complete the sentences with either the Present Perfect or the Simple Past of the verbs in brackets:
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c) Find in the grid and in any direction the missing verb forms and fill in the table.
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