Hi there, guys, and welcome back to www.engvid.com.
Going to be doing a grammar lesson today. We're looking at the difference between the
present perfect and the past simple. Sometimes these tenses can look a little bit similar,
so I want to point out to you why we use the present perfect when we're talking about something
that's current, now, but looking back to the past; and then looking at the past simple
as a simple completed action. I hope it's helpful. Let's get involved. So: "Bruce is looking for his helmet.
He can't find it anywhere. So he __________", now what
do you think should go here? "He __________ lost his helmet." Okay, he's
looking for his helmet, he can't find it, so we need to put something in here.
Have you got it? Well the answer is: "has". Okay? So: "He has lost his helmet." Now, to
form the present perfect, I put my subject, I'll just put "s" for subject, so: "I", "you",
"he", "she", "we", "they", "it". Okay? Subject plus "has" or "have", plus the past participle.
So if it's regular, you're going to be doing a verb with an "ed" ending. For example: "completed",
"finished", "started". Okay? So verb plus: "ed". However, if it's irregular, it's going to
have a slightly different ending. I'm hoping you've got a list of irregular verbs somewhere.
Get in touch with me if you don't, I'll help out. So, when are we talking about? "Bruce has
lost his helmet. He has lost his helmet." Well, it's not future. Is it? Okay? It's either
present or past. Now, we use the present perfect when we're looking at something that's kind
of just happened. It happened quite recently; it's only just happened. So I'm going to write
in: "recent", okay? "R-e-c-e-n-t", "recent". Say it back to me: "recent". Okay, it happened
recently, the adverb. Great. So: "Bruce has lost his helmet." It's only just happened.
It happened like an hour ago, it happened five minutes ago. For not much
time has he lost his helmet. Now, let's look at how we form this verb.
As I said, we look at our subject so it's either: "I", or: "we", or: "they", or: "you".
What do you think? "Has" or: "have" here? "I has" or: "I have"? That's it, it's: "I have".
Okay? Now, the contraction for: "I have" is: "I've finished." -"Have you done your
homework?" -"Yes, I've finished my homework. Just five minutes ago, I
finished my homework." Okay? Now, with the subjects: "he", "she", "it",
we're going to need to use: "has". "Sorry about my pen, it has just run out of ink." Okay?
So subject plus: "has". Contraction: "It's just run out of ink." So that brings
me on to my next point, "run" would be an irregular verb. Okay? "R-u-n", it doesn't
use an "ed" ending. Check out your list of irregular verb endings for the past participle.
Good. Still with me? Still understanding? Still on the same page?
Comprendo? Brilliant. Now, we're going to look
on to the past simple now. "He"-Bruce-"lost his helmet." Okay? "He lost
his helmet." This is the... Oh, dear, I got it the wrong way around. Teachers aren't perfect after all.
So: "He lost his helmet is the past simple." Okay? Because it's a completed
action that has happened in the past and it's finished. "He lost his helmet." Okay? So let's
write in, past simple, that's there. "He lost his helmet." Done. Happened once, finished.
"But now he has found it!" Tada! Great. So Bruce, he now has found it. Okay? And the
pen has still run out of ink. "But now he has found it!" The difference... So this is
my present perfect. It has something to do with now. "But now he has found it!" Okay?
This "now" talks about the present. "But now he has found his helmet." Let's look at the differences one more time.
Present perfect, it tells us about the situation now. I have the helmet now. e.g: "Bruce has
lost his helmet. He has lost his helmet." Now no helmet. Okay? Now, what do we know now?
Well, now, there is no helmet. Past simple: "He lost his helmet." When we
use the past simple, we find out about the past, but we don't know about the present. Okay?
So we know about the past, not the present. "Bruce lost his helmet." We don't know if he
has his helmet now. We cannot see the present which is down here: "He does have his helmet." Okay?
So the past just doesn't give us that information about right
now, the past simple. I hope I've made some sense today. Okay? We've
been looking at the present perfect, something that's just happened and has... And talks
about what is now. Okay? And the past simple which just talks about the past tense
and nothing about the present. What I want you to do, I know it's a little bit
complicated, so go to www.engvid.com right now and go and try those 10 questions on the quiz.
And then after you've done that, feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel and
you'll find some more useful videos to help you learn your English. And if you like, you
can also look at my website, Facebook page: Exquisite English, should be some interesting
content there for you too. Thank you very much. I hope that's helped you. Bye.
