Question

Difference between past indefinite and present perfect

Answer 1

Answer:

Sentence one: I saw the movie.

Sentence two: I have seen the movie.

Sentence one uses the simple past tense. Sentence two uses the present perfect tense.

“I saw the movie” and “I have seen the movie” both refer to an action that was finished in the past. But there is one important difference: “I saw the movie” suggests that you saw the movie at a specific time in the past. “I have seen the movie” suggests that you saw the movie at an unknown time in the past.

Use the simple past to talk about a finished action that happened at a specific time. For example, “I went out with my friends last night.” The adverb “last night” is not required, but it does help clarify that the event happened at a specific time.

That’s the easy part. Now let’s talk about the present perfect. You form the present perfect by using “have” or “has” followed by the past participle form of the verb. For example, “I have graduated from college.” The present perfect confuses English learners because it refers to a past action. It is also called “present perfect” because speakers use it to stress the importance of a past event in the present.