Unit Present perfect and past 1

13 (I have done and I did)

Study this exa mple situation;
Tom is look ing fo r his k t'~·. He (a n't find it.
He has losl his key. (prese llt PI'Treet)
This means th iH he doesn't 113\'(' hi s key I IOll'.

Ten min utes later:

Now Tom has found his kcy. He h,15 if now,
Has he lost his key? No. 11(' has found it.
Did he lose his key? Yes. he did .
He losl hi s key (!Jilst sill/I,ll' )
hut now he has found it. (preseIIIIJerfect )

The present perfect (something has happened ) is a present tense. It alwa ys tells u S about the
situatio n n O/v. 'Tom has lost his key' =he doesn't have his key " Dill (see Unit 7).
The past simple (something happened ) tells us only about the past. If somebody says 'Tom lost
his key', this doesn't tell us whether he ha s the key now o r nor. It tells us only that he lost his
key at some Ti me in the past.
Do f,o t use the present perfect if the situ ation now is di ffere nt. Compare:
o They've gone away. They' ll be hack on Friday. Ithey arc away flOW)
They went away, but I think they're back at home now. (llot They\ 'e gone)
o It has Slopped ra in ing now, so we don't need the umbrella. (it isn't rai ning flOW)
It stopped raini ng for a whi le. but now iI's ra ini ng aga in. Illot It has stopped )

You can use the prescm perfect for new or recent happeni ngs:
o " 've repaired the TV. It's working OK now: ·Oh. that's good:
o I-lave you heard the news? Sally has won the lon ery!
Usc the paSt si mple (no t the present perfect ) for things that arc not recent or new:
o Mozarl was a composer. He w rote more than 600 pieces of music.
(n o t has been ... has written )
o M y mother grew up in Scotland . (ll o t has grown )
Compare:
o Did you kno w that somebody has invented a new type o f washi ng machine?
o Who invented the telephone? (llot ha s invented )
We usc the present perfect to give new information (sec Unit 7). But if we continue to ta lk
about it, we no rma ll y usc rhe past simple:
o Ow! I've burnt myself.
11.:
8: How did you do that? Ill ot have you done)
A: I picked up a hot d ish. (1I0t ha\'e picked)

o A: Look! Somehody has spilt someth ing o n the sofa .

8: Well, it wasn't me. I didn 't do it. (ll o t ha sn't been ... haven't done)

Past simple ..... Unit 5 Present perfect - Units 7-8 Present perfect and past 2 - Unit 14
26 American English - Appendix 7
Exercises Unit 13
13.1 Complete the sentences uSing the verbs in brackets. Usc lhe present perfect whtrc possiblt:.
Otherwise use the past simple.
- - - ---------------,-------1 Th~ offir~ is empty now.
Evrrybodv _. ____ .___ .____ _
Igo) home.

t can't gel in.

t 've. lost _ (105() my
key.

I meant to call you las! night.

but I
(forget). Mary ......... ,......................................... .
,;;~~Ds:~~ Igo) to Egypt fOf a holiday, but
she's back home in England now.

Vrs, I
(havtl a headache, but t f('el
fi ne now.

13.2 Put the verb into the correct form , present perfect or past simple.
h stepped. r:llnlng for .1 \\'hile. hut now it"~ rall1l1l g a ~a in . (Stop )
2 The TO wn is n: ry di ffe rent n o w . It 11~ c.hf.l.nge4 ;l lor. IchanAc)
.3 I did Ge rnl.l n .l( school. but I most o f it now. (forget )
4 The po li.:e three peo ple. hm I,n er they let them go. (arrest )
5 \'\'h;1t d o yo u th ink nt m~' English? Dn you think it ? (improve)
6 .l,; Are ~' o u still r e.ld i n ~ rhe p.lrer ?
B: :-\0 , I . WiTh it. YOII ":'Ul h;1 \'e it. (fini sh)
- I fm .• joh as " tom;sr <,,;d,. but I ",os." soccessf,,1. lapply)
S \X' here's my t.ikt,? It outside the house, hut it's nor there now. (be )
9 Look! There's :In :t rnr.ulance m 'er then-. There ... ~ a n accident. (be)
10 ,\: Ha ve you he.ud ,tho ut Ben : He his Mm . (break )
Ii: R e all~' ? Ho w (h,lppcn )
.l,; He ..... oif;1 ladde r. (iall)

13.3 Are the underlined parts of these sentences right or wrong? Corrcct them whcrc nccessary.
Do YOll kno \\" ,l ho llt Sue ? She's gj\'eD up her joh.
1 .\I y mo ther bas ~ roWD up In Scorland .
3 Ho w man y plays bd SSbakespeJre \\"[ jnen ?
... O w! J,,'r cut my fin ger. It 's t-.leed ing.
5 Drugs ha ve OCcome ,I hlg prohlelll e\'er}'where.
6 The Chinese b;;m: jo n'm cd p.lpcr.
- Whe re ba ve VO l! been born?
S \ Iary isn't at ho me. She's go ne shopping.
9 Albert Einstein has heeD the scientist who
has d,'vdooed the theory of relativ ity.
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