Exercises · Present perfect or past simple

Present perfect or past simple quiz

Choose the right tense for each sentence. Every example comes from real meetings, emails, updates and presentations – and each answer explains the rule.

Need a refresher? Review the rules in 3.1 Single events, 3.2 Repeated events and 3.3 ‘Have you ever…?’ and ‘never’ in our Verb Tenses in Business guide.

Saying when
Have we moved on?
Not yet
Repeated events
Ever and never
Mixed review

1. Saying when

If you say when something happened – yesterday, in 2019, an hour ago – use the past simple.

Rules: 3.1 Single events

1We the contract with the new supplier last Tuesday.

signedhave signed

2The board the budget in yesterday’s meeting.

approvedhas approved

3I the company in 2019, when it had only twelve employees.

joinedhave joined

4Good news – the client the proposal. They want to start next month.

acceptedhas accepted

5When the report to the finance team?

did you sendhave you sent

2. Have we moved on?

With no time given, ask: has the next stage happened? If not, the event is still ‘live’ – use the present perfect.

Rules: 3.1 Single events

1I a short presentation, so I’ll share my screen now.

preparedhave prepared

2We a table for the client dinner. Please be there by eight.

bookedhave booked

3I the job offer, but in the end I changed my mind and stayed.

acceptedhave accepted

4We to meet on Friday, but the client cancelled, so we met on Monday instead.

agreedhave agreed

5They some changes to the proposal, so we’re reviewing those at the moment.

suggestedhave suggested

3. Not yet

Use the present perfect with ‘yet’ for things that haven’t happened so far, but still can.

Rules: 3.1 Single events

1I the report yet, but I’ll send it to you by the end of the day.

didn’t finishhaven’t finished

2 to the client yet about the delay?

Did you speakHave you spoken

3The meeting ended an hour ago. a solution?

Did you findHave you found

4A client called me with an urgent problem, so I a chance to look at your proposal yet.

didn’t havehaven’t had

5The deadline is tomorrow. the figures to finance yet?

Did you sendHave you sent

4. Repeated events

How many times? Ask: can it happen again within the time frame?

Rules: 3.2 Repeated events

1In my previous role, I on three big acquisitions.

workedhave worked

2This year we twelve new clients so far.

signedhave signed

3Steve Jobs many iconic products.

launchedhas launched

4It’s now 3pm. I four meetings this morning, so I need a break.

hadhave had

5Our company is doing well. We three successful products, and we want to release more.

releasedhave released

5. Ever and never

‘Have you ever…?’ and ‘never’ – is the context finished, or can it still happen?

Rules: 3.3 ‘Have you ever…?’ and ‘never’

1 to the Shanghai expo before?

Did you goHave you been

2 the cathedral while you were in Barcelona?

Did you visitHave you visited

3My previous team a deadline.

never missedhas never missed

4I to make anyone redundant, and I hope I never have to.

never hadhave never had

5I directly with investors when I was COO.

never negotiatedhave never negotiated

6. Mixed review

All the rules together, in real business situations.

Rules: all lessons in ‘From the past to the present’

1We the quarterly results on Monday, and the share price rose immediately.

publishedhave published

2I’m afraid I your email yet. Can you give me a quick summary?

didn’t readhaven’t read

3This month the sales team eight new deals, and there’s still a week to go.

closedhas closed

4 a team through a merger?

Did you ever leadHave you ever led

5The client the proposal, so we can start work on Monday.

approvedhas approved

Check a section to see your score here.

More practice

Next exerciseGap-fillType the right form Next exerciseMatch the sentence halvesMatch the beginnings and endings The guideVerb Tenses in BusinessDiagrams and explanations

Correct on paper is not the same as natural in the boardroom

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