03. Present perfect vs past simple

Two things are always true about all uses of the present perfect:

1. There is always a connexion with the present
2. If we use the present perfect simple to talk about an action in the past, we do not know when the action happened. In this way, the present perfect simple is a present ‘tense’ with a perfect ‘aspect’. Although reference is sometimes made to events that happened at an unspecified time in the past, we are only interested in the effect they have in the present.

The present perfect simple can be used to talk about the duration of an action that started in the past and continues up to and includes the present.

It is also used to talk about the present result of an action completed at an unspecified time in the past

1. Look at these extracts and identify the verb phrase in each one:
   1. On 1 July, 1924, they formed a shoe company
   2. Adidas has always been more successful than Puma
   3. Since 1928, they’ve supplied shoes for Olympic athletes
   4. They worked together for many years
   5. Run DMC has even written a song called My Adidas
   6. The family argument happened … over 60 years ago
   7. Ever since it happened … the town has been split into two
   8. The companies have now been in competition for over 60 years
2. For each extract, answer the following questions:
   1. What part of speech is each element of the verb phrase?
   2. Is the action in the past?
   3. Is the action finished?
   4. Do we know when it happened?
   5. Is there any connexion with the present? Does the action continue up to and including the present?
   6. Is it still true?
   7. What are we interested in?
3. Compare and contrast:
   1. Even though I’ve visited France numerous times, I only went to Paris for the first time last July.

The present perfect simple is often used with time expressions, such as for (a period of time - for example, for 36 years) and since (a point in time - for example, since 1980). To ask questions, we can use ‘how long … ?’