<p>what is the difference between “he did it” and “he has done it”
OR
“he ate” and “he has eaten”???</p>
<p>They seem to be the same…whats the real difference??</p>
<p>One is in the past tense and the other is in past perfect; he has eaten means that he started to eat but either never got to finish it or has not yet finished it</p>
<p>Not exactly. The past perfect happens in the past but can have some bearing on the present. Sometimes the past and past perfect are interchangeable. Sometimes the past perfect is used in more formal or polite speech. For example:</p>
<p>“Would you like something to eat?”</p>
<p>“No thank you. I have eaten.”</p>
<p>The functional difference between the two tenses is somewhat subtle. Past perfect commonly is used to express that one event specifically took place before another when both events took place in the past. Example:</p>
<p>“She never saw snow before moving to Alaska.” – This is wrong.
“She had never seen snow before moving to Alaska.” – This is right.</p>
<p>Here’s another example:</p>
<p>“I wanted to go to Las Vegas, and Nick lived there, so I called him to ask about specific activities to do.” – this suggests that Nick was probably still living in Las Vegas when I called him.</p>
<p>“I wanted to go to Las Vegas, and Nick had lived there, so I called him to ask about specific activities to do.” – this suggests that Nick had previously lived in Las Vegas but did not at the time I called him.</p>