Present perfect vs past simple

Both tenses talk about things that happened. The difference is where the speaker is looking from: the present perfect looks from now (it still matters now), while the past simple puts the action at a time that is finished and closed.

💡Quick test: does the sentence have (or clearly mean) a finished time? Yes → past simple. No, and it still matters now → present perfect. Don't rely on translating a word like “already” or “did” — the time frame decides.

Time expressions often decide the tense:

Today, this morning, this week take the present perfect while that period isn't over, and the past simple once it has finished.

• I've drunk two coffees this morning.

  said while it's still morning

• I drank too much coffee this morning, and now I can't sleep.

  the morning is over

• Linh has called me four times this week!

With the same event, changing the tense changes your message:

• I've broken my glasses, so I can't read this.

  result now

• I broke my glasses last month, but I've got new ones now.

  finished event

• Have you ever been to Thailand? — Yes, I went there in 2022.

• When did you start learning English?

  not: When have you started

When people give news, they often start with the present perfect (the news itself) and switch to the past simple for the details — because now there is a definite time and place.

• I've finally passed my driving test! I took it last Friday.

• Hoa has had her baby! The little girl was born at 3 a.m.

• There's been an accident on the bridge. A bus hit a motorbike.

💡Americans, especially in speech, often use the past simple for very recent news: I just got home. / Did you eat yet? British speakers usually use the present perfect: I've just got home. / Have you eaten yet? Both are correct — but with a finished time (yesterday, last week, ago), both British and American English use the past simple.

For a situation that lasts, the present perfect means it is still true now; the past simple means it has ended. The same goes for people who have died or a period of life that is over.

• My dad has been a taxi driver for ten years.

  he still is

• My dad was a taxi driver for ten years. He retired in 2020.

  not any more

• My grandfather never learned to drive.

  he is no longer alive

• ✗I have visited my aunt in Can Tho last month.

  ✓I visited my aunt in Can Tho last month.

  last month is a finished time → past simple.

• ✗When have you started learning English?

  ✓When did you start learning English?

  When…? questions take the past simple.

• ✗I read five books so far this month.

  ✓I've read five books so far this month.

  so far = up to now, the month isn't over → present perfect.

• ✗Minh has finished university in 2021.

  ✓Minh finished university in 2021.

  A definite year → past simple.

• ✗I've met your brother at the party on Saturday.

  ✓I met your brother at the party on Saturday.

  You say when and where → past simple.

• ✗Have you ever been to Japan? — Yes, I've been there in 2019.

  ✓Yes, I went there in 2019.

  Once you give a year, switch to the past simple.