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Primary English | Present Perfect vs Past Simple: Tutor Prep Guide (time markers, for and since, ten sentence drill)
Students write have went for yesterday and went after since. The gap is not memory, it is that nobody taught them to ask whether the time is finished or still connected to now. This lesson separates the two tenses with one time marker table and checks it with ten mixed sentences.
01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)
If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.
| Skill | Quick check | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|
| Irregular verbs | What are the past simple and past participle of go? | Went and gone, two different forms |
| Have and has | With he, do we use have or has? | Has; I, you, we and they take have |
| Time words | Give three time words for the past | Yesterday, last week, two days ago |
02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)
| Time | Stage | Tutor does | Student does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 min | Time marker check | Put six markers on the board, students sort them into two columns | Answer orally, fix errors on the spot |
| 5-15 min | Finished or not | Draw one timeline: finished time takes past simple, time still running takes present perfect | Mark where each sentence sits on the timeline |
| 15-25 min | For and since | Model for three years against since 2021 and ask why one is a length and one is a point | Complete eight gap fills and give one reason each |
| 25-35 min | Three uses | Model two examples for each use: experience, recent completion, continuing | Write one sentence of their own for each use and swap |
| 35-42 min | Ten sentence drill | Hand out ten mixed sentences, seven minutes, no prompts | Work alone, justify each answer when marking |
| 42-45 min | Exit check | Five oral questions | Leave only with all five correct |
03 Teaching script (read it out)
Scene 1: Finished or not: one timeline explains both tenses
Draw a line with now at the right end. Put yesterday as a closed point on the left, then draw since 2021 as a line running all the way to now. Say it once: when the time is finished, use past simple; when the time still reaches now, use present perfect.
Contrast two sentences: I saw him yesterday and I have seen him twice this week. The first reports an event, the second counts up to now. Same person, different question being answered, so a different tense.
Make the boundary explicit: a finished time cannot sit with the present perfect. I have seen him yesterday is wrong not because of the verb but because time and tense contradict each other. Say this once and half the errors disappear.
Scene 2: For and since: a length against a starting point
Draw for as a bracket, for three years, for two months. Draw since as a dot, since 2021, since Monday, since I was eight. Students only need one question: is the word after it a length or a starting point.
Two danger spots to model. First, since plus a clause: since he moved here. Second, for with a count: for three times is wrong, it should be three times. Let students find the fault; a correction they make themselves sticks better than one they hear.
Add one rule that pays off later: for with the present perfect must reach now. I lived there for three years means they no longer live there; I have lived there for three years means they still do. The same for, decided by the tense.
Scene 3: Three uses and two high risk errors
Model the three uses with one example each: experience, I have been to Japan; recent completion, she has just finished her homework; continuing, we have known each other since P1. Ask for one true sentence about themselves for each use, since real content is remembered.
First high risk error: have been to against have gone to. The first means went and came back, the second means went and is still away. Use a scene: the teacher asks where Ming is, so he has gone to the library is right, while he has been to the library implies he is back.
Second high risk error: have went. Went is past simple, has needs the participle gone. End with a physical habit: after writing any present perfect, point at the verb and ask whether it is a past participle.
04 Question types and worked steps
| Type | Example | Steps | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choose the tense | Choose: I ___ (see) him yesterday. | Check whether the marker is finished or unfinished | Saw, because yesterday is finished time |
| For or since | I have lived here ___ 2019. | Is the word after it a point or a length? | Since, because a year is a starting point |
| Error correction | Correct: She has went to school. | Have and has take the past participle | Has gone, since went is past simple |
| Rewriting | Rewrite I visited Japan in 2023 as an experience sentence | Experience takes the present perfect and drops finished time | I have been to Japan. |
05 Independent practice (3 questions)
| Question | Answer | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ten mixed gap fills, four past simple and six present perfect. | Four past simple, six present perfect, ten in total | Ask for the time marker on every item |
| 2. Eight for and since gap fills. | Four for with a length, four since with a point | Since plus a clause is the item to re-teach |
| 3. Correct five sentences including have went and have seen him yesterday. | All five corrected with one reason each | A correction without a reason is not mastery |
| 4. Write one true sentence for each of the three uses. | Experience, recent completion, continuing | Check have and has agree with the subject |
06 Common mistakes and what to say
| Mistake | Student writes | Say this |
|---|---|---|
| Present perfect with a finished time | I have seen him yesterday. | Yesterday is finished time, so past simple is the only option. |
| Past simple after have or has | She has went to school. | Has takes the past participle. Went is past simple, gone is the participle. |
| For and since swapped | I have lived here for 2019. | For takes a length, since takes a starting point. A year is a point. |
| Have been to and have gone to confused | He has been to the library, so he is not here. | Been to means went and returned; if he is away, use has gone to. |
07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)
- Primary English prep index — Open the present perfect chapter, redraw the timeline and copy the for and since rule once
- Tense choice — Exercises 1 to 4: ten gap fills, writing the time marker beside each
- Correction and rewriting — Exercises 5 to 8: correct five sentences with a reason each and rewrite two
08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)
| Question | Answer | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Which tense goes with yesterday? | Past simple | Answering present perfect means the time rule is missing |
| What is the difference between for and since? | For takes a length, since takes a starting point | Saying both work means it is not yet held |
| What form follows has? | The past participle | Answering past simple is the most common error |
| He is not here, he went to the library. Which sentence? | He has gone to the library. | Has been to means he came back |
| Name the three uses of the present perfect. | Experience, recent completion, continuing to now | Naming fewer than three means fragments only |
09 Tutor FAQ
My student knows the verb table but still writes have went. What helps?
Stop adding memorisation and add a physical check: after every present perfect, point at the verb and ask if it is a participle. Two or three weeks of that habit reduces the error.
Should P5 students learn the present perfect at all?
It appears in the P5 second term and is used heavily in P6 and Secondary 1. At P5 the goal is the finished or unfinished decision, not the passive.
They treat I lived there for three years and I have lived there for three years as identical.
Separate them with one question: do they still live there? The first says no, the second says yes. For does not decide it, the tense does.
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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.