Present perfect versus the simple past.

The present perfect uses " have " or " has " plus past participle.

The past participle here is " been " and " gone ".

Sometimes it 's called " the third form ".

The present perfect is used when we don't mention years, days, hours and other times.

I 've been to Paris.

Here no time is mentioned.

We 're simply focusing on the experience sometime in the past.

The present perfect is used for non-specific time.

I 've been to Paris three times.

Again, no specific dates were mentioned.

Because there's no sequence we use the present perfect.

We use the present perfect when there's no time sequence.

I 've been to Paris, London and Cincinnati.

Even if there are different locations, we still use the present perfect

if there is no time order.

The simple past here " was / were " and " went " are in the simple past.

It is sometimes called " the second form ".

The simple past is used for specific time.

I went to Paris last year.

Here we used a specific time, " last year ", so we use the simple past.

We can also say that the simple past is like finished time.

It 's no longer connected with the present.

I went to Paris when I was six.

Here the focus is on the time phrase " when I was six ".

The event is no longer connected to now so we use the simple past.

Simple past is also used for a time sequence.

I went to Paris, then to London, and finally to Cincinnati.

Here the focus is on the sequence of events.

First to Paris, then to London, then finally to Cincinnati.

Therefore we use the simple past.