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  • 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.

Hi there, guys, and welcome back to www.engvid.com. Going to be doing a grammar lesson today.

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