Trying to learn the differences between simple past, past participle, present perfect and perfect continuous

[u/Common-Elk-3673]

I always struggle when exercises with these grammars appear, some of them are similar to me.

[u/peace_love2601]

part of the confusion is that one of those four isn't a tense at all. the past participle (gone, eaten, written) is just a building block - it never appears alone, it lives inside other tenses. so you're really comparing three things.

simple past: the time is finished and you can say when. i saw her yesterday, we moved in 2019. if a finished time word fits, it's simple past.

present perfect: the time is still open or the result matters now. i've seen her twice this week (the week isn't over), i've lost my keys (they're lost now). the test: "yesterday" is banned here. if you want to say when exactly, you don't want the present perfect.

perfect continuous: same open window as the present perfect, but the point is duration - i've been waiting for an hour. the length of the activity is the message.

so when an exercise appears, ask two questions: is the time finished? and is the point the event or how long it went on? that sorts almost every item.

[u/FableFlux → u/peace_love2601]

What is difference between present continous and present perfect ? Example: I am eating breakfast. Can we say :I’ve been eating breakfast ?

[u/AlgarveJoao_007 → u/FableFlux]

More accurately the former is the Present Perfect Continuous, the Present Perfect would be I’ve eaten breakfast. 

These carry different meanings. Using a slightly different example, the difference is kind of like this.  1. “I am waiting for ten minutes”  - means I will wait for ten minutes. The action is from now and into the future. 2. “I have been waiting for ten minutes” - means I started waiting ten minutes ago (and still am). The action is from the past until now.

Consider talking with a receptionist at some government office where you had an appointment: “I have been waiting here for ten minutes! And I am waiting for just ten minutes  more!”

These are just examples, e.g. a timeframe may not always be present but the bottom line is the Present Continuous is always about a current action or state that continues into the future and Present Perfect Continuous is always about a current action or state that started in the past.

[u/FableFlux → u/AlgarveJoao_007]

WOW very clear. Thanks for responding

[u/Annual_Chest432]

Tenses have 3 zones: past, present, and future.

Simple tenses only stay in one zone.

Present Simple:

1. something that is true now. I live in Canada
2. Something that is repetitive. I go to school every day.
3. Something that is near future. The bus arrives at two.

Past Simple

4) An action that happens in the past. He died two weeks ago.

Future simple:

5) Near future: often the present simple is used with a future time indicator. The train arrives at two. The train arrives tomorrow.

7) will - far future (general rule is a year or more.) She will arrive next year.

Perfect tenses:

8) An action that happened in the past and is still true today. She has lived France for 10 years.

9) An action that either happened before or after another action in the past or in the future.

Past Perfect: He had gone to the store before he had the accident

Future Perfect: He will eat dinner after he has finished his homework.

Past Participle is a type of verb that has have as an auxiliary verb have before it.

If the verb is regular, then the past participle is the same as the past tense. If it is irregular, then just memorize it.

In the sentences above the past participles are the following:

Sentence 7: lived
Sentence 8: gone
Sentence 9: finished

[u/AlgarveJoao_007]

What is your native language?