Simple Past

Uses:
The simple past tense in English is equivalent to the imperfect past tense and
indefinite past tense of Spanish. We use the simple past for complete actions in the
past. The time period of these actions is not important as in Spanish. In the past
simple there are regular verbs and irregular verbs.
To form the past simple with regular verbs, we use the infinitive and add the ending
"-ed". The shape is the same for all people (I, you, he, she, it, we, they). Ejemplos:
want → wanted, learn → learned, stay → stayed, walk → walked

Structure

Complement
Complement

Complement
Form:
Pronoun Aux Past Negative Negative Contraction
I did Did not Didn´t
You did Did not Didn´t
He did Did not Didn´t
She did Did not Didn´t
It did Did not Didn´t
We did Did not Didn´t
You did Did not Didn´t
They did Did not Didn´t

Exceptions in regular verbs

1. For verbs that end in an “e”, we just add “-d”.
change → changed, believe → believed
2. If the verb ends in a short vowel and a consonant (except “y” or “w”), we double
the final consonant.
stop → stopped, commit → committed
3. With verbs ending in a consonant and a “y”, the “y” is changed to an “i”.
study → studied, try → tried
Pronunciation irregular verbs
We pronounce the ending "-ed" differently depending on the letter that goes to the
end of the infinitive. In general the "e" is silent.
1. With infinitives ending in "p", "f", "k" or "s" (voiceless consonants, except "t") we
pronounce the ending "-ed" as a "t".
looked [lukt] kissed [kisst]
2. With infinitives ending in "b", "g", "l", "m", "n", "v", "z" (voiced consonants, except
"d") or a vowel, we pronounce only the D".
Yelled [jeld] cleaned [klind]
3. With infinitives ending in "d" or "t", we pronounce "e" as an "i".
Ended [endid], Waited [weitid]

(Hancock, English result: Pre-intermediate. Student's book , 2016)

Uses:
The present perfect is more or less equivalent to the perfect past tense of Spanish.
We will see the differences in the section on uses. In general, it is a mix between the
present and the past. We use it for past actions that matter in the present.
The present perfect tense is used for actions that occurred at a non-specific time
before now. Specific time is not important. Therefore, we do not usually use specific
time expressions ("this morning", "yesterday", "last year" ...) with the perfect present.
The perfect present can be used with non-concrete expressions of time ("never",
"ever", "many times", "for", "since", "already", "yet" ...). This concept of non-specific
time is quite difficult to understand, for this reason, below you have the particular
uses of the perfect present.
1. to describe an experience. We do not use it for specific actions.
I have never flown in a plane
2. For a change in time.
I have become more timid in my old age
3. For successes or accomplishments.
Our football team has won the championship three times.
4. For actions that have not yet happened. The use of the present perfect tense in
these cases indicates that we are still waiting for the action, therefore, we
frequently use the adverbs "yet" and "still".
The plane hasn’t arrived yet.
5. The present perfect tense is used to talk about actions at different times in the
past. The use of the present perfect in these cases indicates that more actions are
possible in the future.
We have spoken several times, but we still can't reach an agreement
6. In general, we use the present perfect continuous for situations that have
started in the past but continue in the present. But as we have seen, there are
some verbs that we cannot use in continuous tenses. In these cases, we use the
present perfect.
How long has Michael been in Barcelona?

Structure
I have [I’ve] talked to Peter.

I haven’t talked to Peter.

Have you talked to Peter?

pp Aux + Contrac Pp Aux - Contrac

I HAVE I´ve I HAVE NOT HAVEN´T
YOU HAVE YOU´ve YOU HAVE NOT HAVEN´T
HE HAS HE´ve HE HAS NOT HASN´T
SHE HAS SHE´ve SHE HAS NOT HASN´T
IT HAS IT´ve IT HAS NOT HASN´T
WE HAVE WE´ve WE HAVE NOT HAVEN´T
YOU HAVE YOU´ve YOU HAVE NOT HAVEN´T
THEY HAVE THEY´ve THEY HAVE NOT HAVEN´T

(Hancock, English result: Intermediate. Student's book, 2014)

Referencias
Hancock, M. (2014). English result: Intermediate. Student's book. España,: Oxford University Press .

Hancock, M. (2016). English result: Pre-intermediate. Student's book . España: Oxford University
Press .