USO del SIMPLE PAST e del PRESENT PERFECT
Talvolta ci si confonde sull'uso dei due tempi dell'indicativo inglese, il Simple Past e il Present Perfect, che
possono essere tradotti in italiano con il Passato Prossimo dell'indicativo.
Ad esempio la frase Ho incontrato dei miei amici può essere tradotta in inglese con entrambi i due tempi, e
cioè:
I met some of my friends
I have met some of my friends
Se però introduco un riferimento temporale, la scelta tra i due tempi diventa obbligatoria:
Yesterday I met some of my friends
Today I have met some of my friends
Cosa è cambiato nel momento in cui ho usato Yesterday e Today?
La risposta a questa domanda si trova nella riga 1 della tabella sottostante, dove si fa riferimento ad un
periodo di tempo concluso, finito (Yesterday) o non concluso, che arriva al presente (Today)
Ecco le principali differenze tra il Present Perfect e il Simple Past.
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Il Present Perfect viene usato quando il
periodo di tempo non è finito
I have seen three movies this week.
(Questa settimana non è ancora finita)
Il Simple Past viene usato quando il
periodo di tempo è finito
I saw three movies last week.
(La scorsa settimana è finita)
Il Present Perfect viene spesso usato
quando si danno notizie recenti e i cui
effetti si fanno ancora sentire
Martin has crashed his car again.
(Questa è una informazione recente e intende forse
sottolineare che Martin non ha l'auto a disposizione in
quanto è dal meccanico in riparazione)
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Il Simple Past viene spesso usato quando Martin crashed his car last year.
si da' un'informazione più datata
(Questa è una vecchia notizia)
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Il Present Perfect viene usato quando il
tempo non è specificato
I have seen that movie already.
(Non sappiamo quando)
Il Simple Past viene usato quando il
tempo è specificato
I saw that movie on Thursday.
(Sappiamo esattamente quando)
Il Present Perfect viene usato con for e I have lived in London for five years.
since, quando le azioni non sono ancora (Vivo ancora a Londra)
finite
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Il Simple Past viene usato con for e
since, quando le azioni sono già finite
I lived in London for five years.
(Non vivo più a Londra oggi)
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Differenza tra BEEN e GONE
He has been to school = E' andato a scuola (ed è tornato)
He has gone to school = E' andato a scuola (e non ancora è tornato)
SOMPLE PAST & PRESENT PERFECT REVIEW
1. Complete this paragraph with the correct form of the verb. Choose between the Present Perfect
Simple or Past Simple.
London ___________________________ (to have) an underground system since the 19th century. The
London Underground ___________________________ (to start) in 1863, when workers and
engineers ___________________________ (to build) the Metrepolitan railway. This railway
line ___________________________ (to go) from Paddington Station to Farringdon Street Station, and
steam
engines ___________________________
(to
pull)
the
carriages.
Eleven
more
lines ___________________________ (to open) since then. The world's first underground electric
railway ___________________________ (to open) in 1890. This line ___________________________ (to
go) from the City of London to Stockwell. The most modern line is the Jubilee line,
which ___________________________
(to
open)
in
1979.
Since
the
London
Underground ___________________________ (to begin), many other cities, like New York and
Paris, ___________________________ to build) their own systems.
2. Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate tense. Look at the time expressions for clues.
1. Juan ___________________________ (study) English for many years.
2. His sister ___________________________ (finish) her English classes last semester.
3. Right now, we ___________________________ (work) on a very interesting project.
4. Before the teacher came to class, the students ___________________________ (complete) their
assignments.
5. Sandie and George ___________________________ (continue) their studies for one more year.
6. Iva ___________________________ (meet) a young man at the supermarket last Saturday.
7. While James and his wife ___________________________ (drive) home, they saw a parade.
8. Tomorrow, Lisa’s brother ___________________________ (start) his new job.
9. My students always ___________________________ (enjoy) talking in English in class.
10. Since their family ___________________________ (arrive) to this country, they
___________________________ (be) very happy.
11. When Josesito got home, his parents ___________________________ (go) to sleep an hour before.
12. I’m sorry. I cannot walk anymore. I___________________________ (walk) for an hour.
3. Fill in the blanks with a form of the verb in parantheses. Use any appropriate verb tense
Two years ago, I (1) ___________________________ (get) a job at a company called WordTech. Now, I (2)
___________________________ (use) computers at work every day, but before I (3)
___________________________ (come) to the United States, I (4) ___________________________
(touch-never) a computer. It (5) ___________________________ (take-not) me very long to learn basic
computer skills because I (6) ___________________________ (take-already) a course in typing. By the
time. I (7) ___________________________ (leave) my country, I (8) ___________________________
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(finish) secretarial school. While I (9) ___________________________ (look) for a job here, I (10)
___________________________ (take) a course in information technology.
I (11)
___________________________
(continue)
to
learn
new
things
since
I
(12)
___________________________ (start) working at WordTech.
For example, now I (13)
___________________________ (learn) how to search for information on the Internet.
4. Fill in the blanks to complete the movie review. Use the correct tense of the verbs given
E.T. by JOE BERNES
Last night, I saw a good movie. The title of the movie was E.T. It was an excellent film. To my surprise. I
….. laughed ….. (laugh), I ___________________________ (cry), and I ___________________________
(worry) about the little creature from space, and I completely ___________________________ (enjoy)
the show.
The story is about an extraterrestrial person named E.T. He ___________________________ (land) on
earth in a flying saucer. But his space ship ___________________________ (depart) without him. A little
American boy ___________________________ (discover) E.T. They ___________________________ (play)
together and they ___________________________ (like) each other a lot. But E.T.
___________________________ miss) his home. He ___________________________ (want) to go back.
He ___________________________ (plan) his return trip, but then …
5. Use the correct form of the verbs
The Bartons ___________________________ (go) to the mountains last weekend. While they
___________________________ (have) lunch, a man ___________________________ (fall) down the tree.
They ___________________________ (take) him to the hospital in their car. They
___________________________ (visit) him twice in the hospital since that time. The man
___________________________ (be) better now and the doctors say he ___________________________
(leave) the hospital soon. When The Bartons ___________________________ (visit) him yesterday, they
___________________________ (take) him a bunch of flowers. The man ___________________________
(be) very happy and ___________________________ (thank) them. Mr. Barton now says he
___________________________ (spend) the next weekend at the seaside and he
___________________________ (hope) there ___________________________ (not / be) any more
accidents.
I ___________________________ (finish) school last month and I ___________________________ (not /
have) a job yet, but fortunately I ___________________________ (have) a job interview tomorrow. I
usually ___________________________ (get) up early so often ___________________________ (sleep) at
around half past ten. I ___________________________ (be) a little excited last night and because of this I
___________________________ (want / watch) TV before I ___________________________ (go) to bed.
There ___________________________ (be) a film about birds on TV and while I
___________________________ (sit) on the sofa, I ___________________________ (fall) asleep.
___________________________ you ___________________________ (have) a terrible dream? Well, I
___________________________ (have) one last night. In my dream I ___________________________ (be)
a parrot and my apartment flat ___________________________ (be) on the tenth floor of a big building. A
big cat ___________________________ (want / catch) me so I ___________________________ (begin /
fly). I ___________________________ (have) nowhere ___________________________ (go) because the
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door ___________________________ (be) locked. Suddenly the cat ___________________________
(attack) me. It nearly ___________________________ (kill) me. While I ___________________________
(shout) in pain, a voice ___________________________ (say), “ _______________________ you
___________________________
(see)
my
books?
I
can’t
find
them.”
When
I
___________________________ (open) my eyes, I ___________________________ (feel) very happy
___________________________ (see) my sister. Of course she ___________________________ (not /
understand) the reason but I ___________________________ (give) her a big kiss.
6. Fill in the blanks with Simple Past or Past Perfect Tense
1. I ___________________________ (worry) a lot about her before I ___________________________
(hear) that she was safe.
2.
I didn’t like the flat. It ___________________________ (be) much smaller than I
___________________________ (think) at first.
3. He told us he ___________________________ (shoot) a big tiger.
4. They ___________________________ (drink) tea after they ___________________________ (finish)
dinner.
5. She ___________________________ just ___________________________ (fold) the pink apron and
placed it in a table drawer when the door ___________________________ (open) and Joe
___________________________ (enter).
6. The police wanted to know why he ___________________________ (bring) a gun to school.
7. After he (work) at the hospital for two years he ___________________________ (decide) to give up the
job.
8. When I ___________________________ (arrive) at the party John ___________________________
already ___________________________ (go) home.
9. We ___________________________ (wait) until the match ___________________________ (finish).
10.
They
___________________________
(leave)
the
room
before
the
meeting
___________________________ (finish).
11. I ___________________________ (buy) a new camera before I ___________________________ (go) to
London.
12 .I ___________________________ just ___________________________ (turn off) the lights when the
telephone ___________________________ (ring).
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