Present Perfect Versus Past Tense By: Buthaina Al-Othman Use present perfect to show that something is still true now. Ex:“My father has lived in Kuwait all his life.” (He is still living here; still true now.) Use past tense to talk about something that is no longer true now. Ex: “Marilyn Monroe lived in L.A. all her life.” (She doesn’t live anymore there; she died; no longer true now.)

To Introduce the General Idea Use present perfect tense to introduce the general idea. Use the simple past to give specific details. Ex: “Marilyn Monroe has been dead since 1962, she had many friends and four husbands.”

When to Use the Present Perfect Use the present perfect when you talk about something that happened in the past but do not mention the specific time it happened. The experience is more important than when it happened. Ex:“She has played the leading role in many movies”.

With For and Since For is used to show length of time (how long the period of time was). For two weeks. For 10 years. For 5 months. Ex: “She has lived in L.A for 36 years.” Since is used to show when a period of time began. Since Since I turned 39. Since May. Ex: “She has lived in L.A since 1926.”