8th graders: Present Perfect vs Past Simple

PAST SIMPLE TENSE

Use:

actions that happened in a determined moment in the past.

actions that started and finished in the past.

1 

2 

Form:

Regular verbs: Verb+ed

Irregular verbs: LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS

(you can visit several websites, which have lists of irregular verbs.)

Examples:

+    Last week I played football.
      (  Time    S      V       DO )

-     We didn't go to school. 
        (S      Aux V      place ) 

?    Did you cut the tree?
   (aux V    S   V      DO)

Situation 2

I went to the cinema, ate some popcorns and talked with my friends.

Pay attention to: 

We use "did" so the main verb appears in the infinitive. 

Keywords:

Last week, yesterday, last month, in the last century, in 2008...

So.....

What's the difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple?

In the Past Simple you know when something happened in the past. Moreover, that action began and finished in the past. 

You can have time expressions such as these: a year/week ago, last month/year/weekend, yesterday....

Here are some sites where you can learn more about Present Perfect and  Past Simple:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/ppvpast2.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/ppvpast3.htm
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs5.htm