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Speaker 1: I went to a jazz club last night. I've actually

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been to that club several times. I went there. I've

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been there. Interesting grammar patterns, don't you think, let's discuss.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you, John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven sixty two.

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I went there, I've been there, yep. The simple past

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versus the present perfect. Imagine for a sec you're catching

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up with a friend, right and you want to tell

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them about this concert you went to. You probably say

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something like, oh, I saw Coldplay last night. They were

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amazing and bam. You just used the simple past tense perfectly.

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And you even threw in last night to specify the time.

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The simple past tense something happened at a certain time

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in the past. Something happened. I saw Coldplay at a

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certain time in the past last night. And the time

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is really important because without saying when, it'll leave your

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listener guessing I saw Coldplay, we totally some information missing. Remember,

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the simple past tells us something happened at a certain

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time in the past. But hold on a sec What

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if you want to talk about something that's started in

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the past, but it's still true for you right now. Well,

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that's where the present perfect tense comes in. You could

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say I've been a Coldplay fan since I was in college.

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There's no specific date, but it still has a connection

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to you now. It's like building a bridge from then

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to now. And speaking of bridges, how about this example.

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I have lived in this city for ten years. The

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action started in the past, but it's still going strong

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in the present. So just to recap, we've got the

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simple past for finished actions usually with a time, and

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the present perfect for stuff that's connected to now. How

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about a question, did you see the New Joker movie

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last weekend? Now we know that's the simple past tense,

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but why Well, because the question included last weekend. When

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you want to ask someone about something they did in

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the past, you need to include the time. Did you

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talk to Jack this morning? Did you hear the news

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about the hurricane today? Something happened at a certain time

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in the past. But what if someone asks, have you

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seen the New Joker movie? There's no specific time in

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that question, just asking if it happened before, that's the

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present perfect You know. A little trick you can use

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is to imagine the present perfect tense, like a timeline.

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It shows how something from the past still matters in

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the present moment. So you're just not memorizing grammar rules,

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you're leveling up your English communication skills like this one.

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I visited Eastumbul three times? Three times? Isn't that like

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a specific time? Not exactly, I visited Eastumbul three times.

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I'm not saying when I went to Istanbul, just how

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many times it's happened in my life. It could have

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been three times this year or three times since I

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was born. Present perfect just talks about experience. And let's

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go back to the question have you ever been to Eastumbul? Yes,

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I've been there three times. The last time I went

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was in twenty oh nine. So here we have a

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typical usage of both grammar pass veterans in one conversation.

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When someone asks you your experience, it's always a good

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idea to give more information in your answer. Have you

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ever eaten scargo? No, I haven't, but I've heard it's

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pretty tasty. How about you? Yeah, I have a few times.

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In fact, I ate that last weekend in a restaurant

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on Second Avenue. That's the difference between a real English

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conversation and just practicing grammar. I want you to get

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to a point in your English where you have longer

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conversations by adding more information when you answer questions. A

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conversation is not an interview. Have you ever been to Istanbul? Yes?

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I have? And you no, I haven't. That's not communication.

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That's just answering questions. Now listen to this one. Have

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you ever seen Casablanca? Yeah? I have. I've seen it

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like five times. It's my favorite movie. How about you.

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I saw it for the first time last weekend. What

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a great movie. Now that's an English conversation. Keep in

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mind the best way to remember grammar like this and

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any other word or phrase in English is to take

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that word or phrase, write it in a sentence that's

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true for you or true in your world, and then

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memorize your sentences. Hey, did you know that you can

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get the chance to practice this kind of English with

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me directly? You can get more practice using your English

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when you join my podcast Learner's Study Group. There you

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can make new friends. Join us for live group lessons

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every week where we practice these podcast lessons together. Plus

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you get access to the PDF, transcript and audio download

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for every Happy English podcast in the past and in

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the future. And on top of that, each episode has

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exercises where you can practice this English point with speaking

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and writing checked by me. To learn more, just visit

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Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven sixty two. Remember,

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learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,

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and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy

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English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy,

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Happy English.