These questions ask you to connect an event to its time frame. Your first decision is not the shape of the verb but whether the speaker is looking from the present or locating the event inside a finished past period.
Choose the time frame before the tense
Read the whole sentence and underline every time signal. Ask whether the period is still open at the moment of speaking. An open period can contain a completed action, a count accumulated so far, or a state that began earlier and continues now; these meanings call for the present perfect. A closed date, day, year or point measured with ago calls for the past simple.
| Signal or meaning | Decision |
|---|---|
| today, this week, this month or so far, with the period explicitly still open | Use the present perfect to connect the completed event or current total to now. |
| life experience up to now, or a completed event with a present result | Use the present perfect because the present viewpoint is part of the meaning. |
| yesterday, last week, a past year, then or a time ending in ago | Use the past simple because the time frame is finished. |
| for plus a duration, or since plus a starting point, with a situation continuing now | Use the present perfect. The starting point is past, but the full period reaches the present. |
Do not decide from one adverb in isolation. With just, already and yet, British English normally uses the present perfect in an open present frame; American English may also use the past simple. The surrounding time frame and stated present connection therefore give the reliable decision.
Where the wrong turns occur
| Tempting form | How to reject it |
|---|---|
| A present-perfect form beside ago or another finished past date | The perfect keeps a present viewpoint, but the time expression closes the event in the past. Switch to the past simple. |
| The past simple with since or for when the situation explicitly continues now | The simple past closes the situation. If the stated period reaches the present, keep that link with the present perfect. |
| A continuous or simple-present form for a completed event in an open period | An open period does not mean that the event itself is still in progress or habitual. When the sentence gives a completed current result or an accumulated count, use the present perfect simple. |
| The past simple for experience measured up to now | The past simple needs a closed past frame. A person's experience viewed across life to the present remains connected to now, so use the present perfect. |
Try it
Select all sentences in which the tense fits the stated time frame.
- The inspector has checked four lifts this month, and the month is not over.
- Our team won the match yesterday.
- I have attended that workshop last year.
- Nora worked at the clinic since 2021 and still works there.
Complete the sentence with the correct form of the verb in brackets. Report a completed result in an open time frame: The current shift is still under way, and the caretaker ___ the entire lobby; the inspection confirms that the whole task is complete. (wash)
The service window is still open, and the clerk ___ my permit already, so I can leave now.
- was checking
- has checked
- is checking
- checks