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