Tense accuracy: present perfect vs past simple

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Grammar for Band 7+ 30 minfoundation

Tense accuracy: present perfect vs past simple

Tense slips are the grammar errors examiners notice first. Master the finished-time test (present perfect vs past simple), since/for/ago, the present perfect continuous and the past perfect, then choose the right tense for every Task 1 visual, Task 2 argument and Speaking Part 2 story.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

  • Choose between the present perfect and the past simple using the 'finished time' test
  • Use since, for and ago accurately, including the difference between 'in 2010' and 'since 2010'
  • Use the present perfect continuous for ongoing activity and the past perfect to sequence past events
  • Select the right tenses for any Task 1 visual: past data, projections, processes and maps
  • Keep tenses consistent in Task 2 and use tense variety to tell a Speaking Part 2 story

The one question that decides the tense

In English, the tense you choose depends on the time frame you have in mind. Knowing when the action happened is not enough.

Past simple: a finished time

The action happened in a period that is over, and that period is stated or clear from the context.

  • The Padma Bridge opened in 2022.
  • I took my HSC exams three years ago.
  • Between 2005 and 2015, bus use rose steadily.

Present perfect: a period that reaches the present

Use have/has + past participle when the period includes now. Also use it when the exact time does not matter and the result is important now.

  • Dhaka's population has grown rapidly since 1990. (The period from 1990 to now is not finished.)
  • I have taken IELTS once before. (This is about my life up to now. When I took it doesn't matter.)
  • Mobile banking has changed the way families send money. (We can see the result today.)

The test

Ask yourself: is the time period finished?

  • Yes, it's finished (yesterday, in 2010, last year, three years ago, when I was at school) → past simple.
  • No, it runs up to now (since 2010, so far, in recent years, over the past decade) → present perfect.

This rule has no exceptions. If you mention a finished time, you cannot use the present perfect. I have visited Cox's Bazar last year is always wrong. The correct form is I visited Cox's Bazar last year.

American English sometimes uses the past simple with just, already and yet (I already finished). Both British and American usage are accepted in IELTS. Just be consistent.

Time expressions and the tense they take

Time expressionTense✓ Correct✗ Typical error

yesterday / last week / last year

past simple

I sat a mock test last week.

I have sat a mock test last week.

in 2010 / in the 1990s / in March

past simple

Garment exports peaked in 2018.

Garment exports have peaked in 2018.

… ago

past simple

I moved to Dhaka five years ago.

I have moved to Dhaka five years ago.

from 2000 to 2010 / between 2000 and 2010

past simple (finished period)

Car ownership doubled between 2000 and 2010.

Car ownership has doubled between 2000 and 2010.

when I was a child / at that time

past simple

When I was a child, we lived in Rajshahi.

When I was a child, we have lived in Rajshahi.

since 2015 / since I started university

present perfect

Rents have risen since 2015.

Rents rose since 2015. / Rents are rising since 2015.

for five years (and still true)

present perfect

I have lived here for five years.

I am living here for five years.

so far / up to now / to date

present perfect

So far, I have completed three practice tests.

So far, I completed three practice tests.

over the past decade / in recent years / lately

present perfect

In recent years, online learning has become common.

In recent years, online learning became common.

ever / never (life experience)

present perfect

Have you ever been abroad?

Did you ever go abroad? (possible in American English but not the natural choice for life experience)

already / yet / just

present perfect (British English)

I haven't booked my test yet.

I didn't book my test yet. (American style; avoid mixing styles)

this week / this year (not finished)

present perfect

I have written four essays this week.

I wrote four essays this week. (fine only if 'this week' is clearly over)

When …? (a question)

past simple

When did you start learning English?

When have you started learning English?

'in' vs 'since', and 'for' with two tenses

Finished period → past simple

  • Rice exports fell in 2010.
  • My cousin lived in Sylhet for five years. (She doesn't live there now.)
  • Internet use grew from 2000 to 2010.
  • I started my degree in 2023.
  • The factory closed two years ago.

Period up to now → present perfect

  • Rice exports have fallen since 2010.
  • My cousin has lived in Dhaka for five years. (She still lives there.)
  • Internet use has grown since 2000.
  • I have been a university student since 2023.
  • The factory has been closed for two years.

'For' works with both tenses, and the tense tells the listener whether the situation is finished. 'Since' marks the start of a period that continues to now, so the main verb is present perfect. 'In + year' and 'ago' point to a finished time, so they need the past simple. Remember the pairs: since + a point in time (since 2018, since I was twelve); for + a length of time (for six years, for a decade).

Present perfect continuous: the activity, not the result

Use have/has been + -ing when you want to stress how long an activity has been going on, or the ongoing process. The activity started in the past and continues now, or has only just stopped.

  • I have been preparing for IELTS for four months.
  • Since the 1990s, Bangladeshi migrant workers have been sending more and more money home.
  • You look exhausted. — I have been revising all night. (It has just stopped, and you can see the result.)

Simple or continuous?

Present perfect simplePresent perfect continuous
a completed result or a quantityan ongoing activity or its duration
I have written three essays this week.I have been writing essays all week.
Prices have risen by 20%.Prices have been rising since January.
answers How many? How much?answers How long?

State verbs don't take the continuous

State verbs describe states, not actions: know, believe, understand, own, belong, prefer, contain, seem, mean. They keep the simple form, even with for or since:

  • ✗ I have been knowing him since school.
  • ✓ I have known him since school.

Where it appears in the test

In Task 1 the continuous is rare, because charts show finished figures. It is natural only when a chart runs up to the present (Since 2015, the price of rice has been rising steadily). In Task 2 and Speaking it is very useful for trends: Governments have been investing heavily in renewable energy for years.

Check your understanding

7 questions
  1. 1

    The Padma Bridge (open) to traffic in June 2022.

  2. 2

    Since 2015, the number of international students in Canada (rise) significantly.

  3. 3

    Which sentence is correct?

  4. 4

    My family has lived in Chattogram more than twenty years.

  5. 5

    I haven't seen my school friends we finished our HSC exams.

  6. 6

    The examiner asks: 'How long have you been learning English?' Which answer is grammatically correct?

  7. 7

    Choose the correct form: 'I ___ my best friend since we were at primary school.'

Answer every question to check.

Past perfect: putting past events in order

Use had + past participle for an action that happened before another past time or event. Think of it as the 'past of the past'. You always need a past reference point. Without one, the past perfect is wrong.

  • When I arrived at the exam hall, the test had already started. (The test started first.)
  • By 2010, mobile phone users had overtaken landline users. (By 2010 is the reference point.)
  • Before the metro opened, most commuters had relied on buses.

'By + past year': the Task 1 trigger

By 2015 means 'at some point up to 2015'. This is the classic signal for the past perfect in Task 1:

  • By 2025, metro journeys had reached 95 million.
  • The figure had doubled by the end of the period.

Don't overuse it

Many candidates think the past perfect sounds 'more advanced', so they use it for any past fact:

  • ✗ In 2005, the number of car journeys had been 40 million.
  • ✓ In 2005, the number of car journeys was (or stood at) 40 million.

Here no event comes before or after another, so the past simple is correct. One accurate past perfect earns you more than five decorative ones.

Looking ahead: the future perfect

Projections work the same way. Use will have + past participle for something completed before a future point:

  • By 2035, metro journeys will have reached 160 million.
  • By 2030, the metro will have overtaken the bus as the most popular mode.
Passenger journeys in a city by mode of transport, 2005–2035 (2030 and 2035 are projections)
Journeys (millions)

Year

  • Bus
  • Metro
  • Private car
Passenger journeys in a city by mode of transport, 2005–2035 (2030 and 2035 are projections)
YearBusMetroPrivate car
2005120 million0 million40 million
2010135 million0 million55 million
2015140 million20 million70 million
2020130 million60 million80 million
2025115 million95 million85 million
2030*105 million130 million82 million
2035*100 million160 million78 million
* Projected figures. The model paragraphs below describe this chart. Notice how the tense changes when the data moves from past years to projections.

Choosing the tense in Writing Task 1

What the visual showsMain tense(s)Example

Data for past years only (e.g. 1990–2020)

Past simple; past perfect with 'by + year'

Bus journeys peaked at 140 million in 2015. By 2025, metro journeys had overtaken car journeys.

Projections for future years

will; be expected / projected / predicted / forecast to; future perfect with 'by'

Metro use is projected to reach 160 million in 2035. By 2030, it will have overtaken bus travel.

Past data running into projections

Past simple, then future forms, with a clear link between them

Car journeys rose until 2025 but are expected to fall slightly thereafter.

No time reference (current figures, an undated survey)

Present simple

Women make up 54% of students in the arts faculty.

A process (how something is made or works)

Present simple, usually passive

The tea leaves are picked by hand, then dried and sorted.

Two maps: a past year and 'now / present day'

Past simple for the old map; present perfect (often passive) for changes; present simple for the current layout

In 1995 the area was farmland. Since then, a hospital has been built, and the site now contains housing.

Two maps, both in the past (e.g. 1990 and 2010)

Past simple; past perfect with 'by 2010'

By 2010, the forest had been cleared to make way for a car park.

A chart that runs 'to the present'

Present perfect is possible

The number of users has risen every year since 2015.

Model Task 1 answer: tense in action

The line graph compares the number of journeys made by bus, metro and private car in a city between 2005 and 2025, with projections to 2035.

Overall, buses were the most used form of transport between 2005 and 2025. However, the metro, which was introduced between 2010 and 2015, grew rapidly and is expected to become the dominant mode by 2030.

In 2005, buses carried 120 million passengers, three times as many as private cars (40 million). Bus journeys peaked at 140 million in 2015 and then fell steadily to 115 million in 2025. Car use, by contrast, more than doubled over the two decades, reaching 85 million. The metro carried 20 million passengers in 2015, the first year shown for it. By 2025 the figure had risen to 95 million, so the metro had already overtaken car travel.

Looking ahead, metro use is projected to reach 160 million in 2035, and by 2030 it will have overtaken bus travel. Bus and car journeys are predicted to decline gradually, to 100 million and 78 million respectively.

  • were / grew / peaked / fellPast simple for the finished period 2005–2025. This is the backbone of any past-data answer.
  • is expected to becomeA projection structure. 'Be expected to' sounds more objective and academic than repeating 'will'.
  • had risen … had already overtakenPast perfect after 'By 2025'. It tells the reader that the overtaking happened before that reference point.
  • will have overtakenFuture perfect after 'by 2030'. The overtaking is complete before that future point.
  • is projected to reach / are predicted to declineDifferent projection verbs, so the writer never repeats 'will' three times in a row. This range is rewarded under both GRA and Lexical Resource.

What each tense does in a Task 2 essay

TenseIts job in your essayExample

Present simple

General truths, facts and your position

Many parents believe that… / I strongly agree that…

Present perfect

Change from the past up to now. Ideal for introductions.

Over the past two decades, the internet has transformed the way students learn.

Present perfect continuous

An ongoing trend, with emphasis on duration

Governments have been investing in renewable energy for years.

Past simple

A specific example from the past

When schools closed during the pandemic, many students lost months of learning.

will / be likely to / may

Predictions and consequences

If this trend continues, rural schools are likely to lose even more teachers.

would / could (hypothetical)

Proposals and imagined situations

A ban on private cars would reduce congestion, but it could harm small businesses.

Task 2 tense control: Band 6 vs Band 8

Band 6: the tenses drift

Technology changed the way people work. In the past, employees have to travel to the office every day, but now many people worked from home. For example, during the pandemic many companies in Dhaka have started using online meetings, and this trend continues since then. I think this will be positive if companies will train their staff properly.

Band 8: every tense has a job

Technology has transformed the way people work. In the past, employees had to travel to the office every day, whereas today many work from home for at least part of the week. During the pandemic, for example, numerous companies in Dhaka adopted online meetings almost overnight, and the practice has continued ever since. This shift is likely to be positive, provided that companies train their staff properly.

The Band 6 paragraph contains six tense errors. 'Changed' should link to the present ('has transformed'). 'Have to' describes a past habit ('had to'). 'Worked' is a present general truth ('work'). 'Have started' sits in a finished period ('adopted'). 'Continues since' needs the present perfect ('has continued since'). And 'will' should not follow 'if'. The Band 8 writer gives each tense a job: present simple for general truths, present perfect for change up to now, past simple for one specific past example, and a likelihood structure for the prediction.

Speaking Part 2: a story with real tense variety

Cue card: Describe a time when you were late for something important.

I'd like to talk about the day I almost missed my HSC English exam, which happened about four years ago.

My exam centre was on the other side of Dhaka, so I had planned to leave home at seven. Unfortunately, it had been raining all night, and when I stepped outside, the whole road was under water. While I was waiting for a rickshaw, I kept checking my watch, and I was getting more and more nervous. In the end, my father took me on his motorbike through the back streets.

By the time we arrived, the other students had already gone into the hall, and the invigilator was closing the door. I remember running up the stairs with my admit card in my hand. Luckily, he let me in, and I managed to finish the paper.

Since that day, I have always left home at least an hour early for anything important, and I have never been late for an exam again. My friends laugh at me for it, but I think it's a lesson I will never forget.

  • Past simple: happened, stepped, took, arrived, letThe main events of the story. They form its skeleton.
  • Past continuous: was waiting, was getting, was closingBackground actions in progress when something else happened. Use it to set the scene.
  • Past perfect: had planned, had gone, had been rainingEvents that happened earlier than the main story moment. 'By the time we arrived, the others had gone in' is a band 7+ sequencing structure.
  • Present perfect: have always left, have never beenThis connects the story to your life now. It makes a strong, natural ending to a Part 2 answer.
  • Present simple + will: remember, laugh, think, will never forgetReflection from today's point of view. In two minutes the candidate has used six different tenses, and every one has a clear reason.

Find and fix the tense error

7 questions
  1. 1

    Find and correct the mistake:

    I have visited Cox's Bazar last December.

  2. 2

    Find and correct the mistake:

    In 2015, the price of rice has reached its highest level.

  3. 3

    Find and correct the mistake:

    I am studying at this university since 2023.

  4. 4

    Find and correct the mistake:

    A major change is happened in our education system.

  5. 5

    Find and correct the mistake:

    When have you moved to Dhaka?

  6. 6

    Find and correct the mistake:

    My uncle didn't went to university.

  7. 7

    Find and correct the mistake:

    I have been knowing my best friend for ten years.

Answer every question to check.

Writing Task 1 practice

120+ words · 15 min

The line graph below shows annual sales of printed books and e-books in one country between 2005 and 2025, with projections for 2030 and 2035.

Lesson task: Write the two body paragraphs of a Task 1 answer (about 120–150 words). Focus on tense accuracy:

  • the past simple for 2005–2025
  • the past perfect at least once with by + year
  • at least two different ways to describe the projections (e.g. is expected to, is projected to, will have + past participle)
Annual sales of printed books and e-books, 2005–2035 (millions of copies; 2030 and 2035 projected)
Copies sold (millions)

Year

  • Printed books
  • E-books
Annual sales of printed books and e-books, 2005–2035 (millions of copies; 2030 and 2035 projected)
YearPrinted booksE-books
200550 million1 million
201048 million6 million
201544 million15 million
202040 million26 million
202537 million33 million
2030*34 million38 million
2035*32 million42 million
0 / 120 words0 paragraphs0 linking wordsDraft saved on this device
Self-check before submitting
  • ☐ Every sentence about 2005–2025 uses the past simple (fell, rose, reached, stood at)
  • ☐ At least one past perfect after 'by + a past year' (e.g. By 2015, e-book sales had risen…)
  • ☐ Projections use at least two different structures, not just 'will' (is expected to, is projected to, is forecast to, will have overtaken)
  • ☐ No 'would' for the projected figures
  • ☐ The overtaking point (between 2025 and 2030) is described accurately with the future perfect or a projection verb
  • ☐ Figures are correct and units are given (million copies)

Speaking Part 2 practice

1 min prep · up to 2 min talk

Describe an important change in your life.

You should say:

  • what the change was
  • when it happened
  • what your life was like before the change

and explain how this change has affected you.

Start your one minute of preparation, then talk for up to two minutes.

Tips for a band 7+ answer
  • • Tell the main events in the past simple, and use the past continuous for background ('I was sharing a small room…').
  • • Go further back with the past perfect: 'Before that, I had lived in the same neighbourhood my whole life.'
  • • Describe past habits with 'used to' or 'would': 'I used to walk to college with my friends every morning.'
  • • The last line of the cue card says how this change HAS affected you. That is your signal to finish in the present perfect: 'I've become much more independent.'
  • • If you slip ('I go… I went there'), correct yourself quickly and carry on. A quick self-correction shows control, so don't let it break your fluency.

Final quiz: tenses for IELTS

10 questions
  1. 1

    Match each beginning with the only grammatically correct ending.

    Over the past decade,
    Three years ago,
    By the time the ambulance arrived,
    By 2035,
    Every year,
  2. 2

    Read: 'When I reached the station, the train had already left. I had overslept because my phone alarm hadn't gone off.' Put the events in the order they actually happened.

    Drag the cards (or use the arrows) into the correct order.

    • 1I reached the station.
    • 2I overslept.
    • 3The train left the station.
    • 4My phone alarm didn't go off.
  3. 3

    A bar chart shows car sales from 1990 to 2020. Which sentence is correct?

  4. 4

    'My brother ___ to Canada. He's studying in Toronto now.'

  5. 5

    By 2035, the population of the city (reach) 30 million.

  6. 6

    Over the past two decades, smartphones (transform) the way people communicate.

  7. 7

    I (never / be) to the UK, but I hope to study there next year.

  8. 8

    Find and correct the mistake:

    In 2035, the figure would reach 160 million.

  9. 9

    Find and correct the mistake:

    In 2005, the number of car journeys had been 40 million.

  10. 10

    Which tense is normally used to describe a process diagram showing how bricks are manufactured?

Answer every question to check.

Key takeaways

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