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Which tense should we use with expressions like 
'today' or 'this morning'?

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Should we use the Present Perfect? Should we say:
 I've done it today?

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Or, the Past Simple: I did it today.

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Well actually, we can use both. 
The Past Simple and the Present Perfect.

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But it depends on the context.

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Hello and welcome everyone, this is Minoo at Anglo-Link.

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I see a lot of confusion among my students about
the tense to use for a completed action

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with time expressions like 'this morning', 'today', 'this week', etc.

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So, in this lesson we'll look at some very typical scenarios and situations
to make it absolutely clear

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for you which one to use when.

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So, let's now begin our lesson by looking at what the word 'today' actually means.

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We can interpret 'today' in four different ways.

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We can consider 'today' to mean from midnight to midnight.

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That's the clock time a.m and p.m.

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We can think of 'today' as from sunrise to sunset.

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That's all the time we have daylight.

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We can interpret 'today' as being the time I wake up until the time I sleep.

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So, that will be your full day.

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And we can also interpret 'today' as from the time you start your work or activities

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to the time you finish them.

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That would be the active part of your day.

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So, that's 'today'.

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Now, let's look at the two tenses:

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Have done and Did.

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As you know, have done, which is the Present Perfect tense refers to
an action that's completed until now.

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But, without a specified past time. For example:

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I have spoken to my supervisor.

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Whereas, 'did' which, is the Past Simple,

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is also for a completed action but, this time we have a specified past time.

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For example: I spoke to my supervisor yesterday.

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So, that brings us to the question:

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Is today a past time reference?

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Well it depends on two things.

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Firstly, which part of the day you're speaking in.

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And secondly, whether you're referring to your full day or just your active day.

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Okay! We're going to look at three scenarios where today refers to different things.

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Let's start with scenario 1.

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Let's say it's 4 p.m. You're still at work. You call your partner with good news.

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Will you say to your partner:

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I spoke to my supervisor today. I can take next week off.

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Or, would you say:

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I have spoken to my supervisor today. I can take next week off.

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So, it's 4 p.m. You're still at work.

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So your work day is not over yet. You're still in that time frame.

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And therefore we should use the Present Perfect tense:

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I have spoken to my supervisor today.

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Okay! Let's look at scenario number 2.

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Now, it's 6 p.m. And you're back home.

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And you share the good news with your partner.

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Will you say:

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I have spoken to my supervisor today. I can take next week off.

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Or: I spoke to my supervisor today.

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Which one would you choose now?

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Right, in this case it's 6 p.m. Your work day is over. 
So, now 'today' becomes a past time reference in your context.

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Therefore, you should say to your partner:

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I spoke to my supervisor today.

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Right, let's look at scenario number 3.

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Now it's 10 p.m. on a Saturday evening. You're ready to go to bed.

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You say to your partner:

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I don't know why I feel so tired. I not do much today.

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What do you think you'd say here?

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Would you say:

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I didn't do much today. 
Or: I haven't done much today.

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Right, now you're referring to your full day but, 
because you're just about to go to bed, that full day continues.

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You're still in that time frame.

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So the correct answer here is:

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I haven't done much today.

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Alright, let's look at a similar time expression 'this morning'.

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Two scenarios here. The first one.

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It's 10 a.m. and you're at the office.

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You notice your colleague, Mary, isn't there.

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You say to another colleague:

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I not see Mary this morning. Any idea where she is?

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What would you say:

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I didn't see Mary this morning. 
Or: I haven't seen Mary this morning.

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The correct answer is:

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I haven't seen Mary this morning.

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Because it's 10 a.m. Morning is not a past time reference yet.

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Okay! Let's look at scenario number 2.

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Now, it's 2 p.m. and you see Mary at her desk.

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What will you say to Mary?

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I haven't seen you this morning. Where were you? 
Or: I didn't see you this morning. Where were you?

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So now, it's 2 p.m. So, when we say this morning 
we're talking about a past time reference.

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This morning is clearly in the past.

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So the correct tense is:

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I didn't see you this morning.

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Now, let's look at a slightly different situation using the expression 'this afternoon'

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but referring to all of this afternoon.

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In which case we usually just say: All afternoon.

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And usually in this case, the tense becomes a continuous tense.

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So I'm going to give you again two scenarios. Let's look at scenario 1.

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It's 4:45 p.m. and you're still answering emails, which you started at 12:30.

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What will you say:

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I was answering emails all afternoon. 
Or: I have been answering emails all afternoon.

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Pass Continuous or Present Perfect Continuous.

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Well, you're still at work. Your work day continues.
So, all afternoon is not a past time reference yet.

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You should say:

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I have been answering emails all afternoon.

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So, let's look at scenario number 2.

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Now, it's 7 p.m. and you're back home. And you think to yourself:

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What a boring day!

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Would you say:

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I was answering emails all afternoon.
Or: I have been answering emails all afternoon.

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Of course, now your workday is over. You're home. So, speaking about work.

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'All afternoon' is a past time reference.

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So, you should say:

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I was answering emails all afternoon.

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Right! Let's look at this evening.

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I have two scenarios again.

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Let's say you've had dinner at a friend's house and you see it's getting late.

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What will you say to this friend with the verb 'have'?

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I have a great time this evening. I'd love to stay longer, but it's getting late.

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Would you say:

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I had. Or: I've had.

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The correct answer is:

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I've had. because this part of the evening
that you're spending with your friend is not over yet.

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Now, let's look at our second scenario.

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You've had dinner at a friend's house, and you've just returned home.

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You say to your brother:

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I a great time at Sally's this evening. I wish I could have stayed longer.

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So, now would you say:

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I have had a great time. 
Or: I had a great time.

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And this time the answer is: I had a great time.

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Because the part of the evening that you spent with your friend is over.

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It's now a time frame in the past.

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Right! How about expressions like 'this week', or 'this month', or 'this year'?

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With these expressions, always use the Present Perfect.

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For example:

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I have seen several good films this week, or, this month, or this year.

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Except if you use the word ....

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'earlier'.

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For example, you can say:

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I saw several good films earlier this month.

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Or: Earlier this week, we signed a new contract.

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So, this week, or this month, or this year, they're always Present Perfect.

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The frame always continues.

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If you put 'earlier', you make that a past time frame.

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Right! One last thing before we wrap up,

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and that is all usage guidelines I give you in my lessons
apply to British English.

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So, don't be surprised if you  the don't always hear the Present Perfect tense 
used in the same way in American English.

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Okay! That brings us to the end of this lesson.

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If you'd like to watch all my lessons on the tenses

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Thank you for watching, and I look forward to seeing you in my next lesson.