Language/English/Grammar/Express-Past

Here is a quick article on how to express the past tenses in English.

The simple past.

It is used to talk about past events in a historic context using yesterday, or a date or time.

• Example: He died in 1920.

It indicates only a short action/period of time:

• "I saw a bird flying across the sky." -> we don't see the bird anymore.

The Present Perfect

It is used to situate past events in relation to the present situation.

• Examples: I have just ordered a new TV

The past perfect

It is normally only used when one past event has to be situated in a more distant past than another past event.

• Examples: I got off the train when a bell rang.

Note:

"I have been to Vienna several times" -> the experience still lasts until today!

Now, in contrary you may say "I was in Vienna last week." Why do we use the past tense? We are not in Vienna anymore!

"I have been in Vienna since last week." Why do we use the past perfect tense? Why are still in Vienna!

I hope this helped at least a little bit, if not, feel free to message me!