The Night I Stopped — Present Perfect & Past Simple (B1 Grammar)

B1 - present perfect vs past simple

The Night I Stopped

PICTURE

(you add this)

"I have counted it, because my therapist made me." Around 60,000 euros.

Present perfect (experiences, *just / already / yet*) vs past simple (finished time)

Reading

Speaking

LEAD-IN

Quick money quiz

Ask three classmates. Find someone who...

• ...has lost money on something stupid.

• ...has lent money to a friend (and got it back).

• ...has never been in debt.

PICTURE

(you add this)

BEFORE YOU READ

Twelve years of betting

You are going to read an interview with Tomas R., 39, who stopped gambling two years ago.

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

PICTURE

1. What did gambling cost him in money?

2. What did it cost him in other things?

(you add this)

READING

"The night I finally stopped"

An interview with Tomas R., 39

How much have you lost over the years?

Honestly? Around 60,000 euros. I've counted it, because my therapist made me. I've lost money on poker, on football, on horses — I've even bet on table tennis at three in the morning. But most of it went in one place: online casinos.

When did it start?

I placed my first bet in 2011, the day Portugal played Spain. I won 200 euros and I felt like a genius. That was the problem — I won at the beginning. I didn't understand then that the app was studying me.

What was the lowest point?

March 2022. My wife found the second credit card — the one she didn't know about. I'd told her the money was for the car. That night she took our daughter and went to her mother's. She came back three weeks later, but something changed between us that never fully came back.

Any advice?

People say, "I can stop whenever I want." I said exactly that in 2015, in 2018, and in 2021. If you've ever hidden a bet from someone you love, you already have your answer.

And now?

I haven't placed a bet for two years and four months. I've deleted every app, I've blocked every site, and my salary has gone into my wife's account since 2023. I've just made the last payment on the debt — last Tuesday, actually. We've already booked a weekend away to celebrate. Cash, not credit.

COMPREHENSION

Answer with a time expression or a number from the text.

1. When did Tomas place his first bet?

2. What happened in March 2022?

3. How long is it since his last bet?

4. When did he make the final debt payment?

GRAMMAR FOCUS

When exactly?

a) I've lost money on poker, on football, on horses.

b) I placed my first bet in 2011.

c) I've just made the last payment on the debt.

d) That night she took our daughter and went to her mother's.

e) We've already booked a weekend away.

1. Which sentences tell us exactly when something happened? Which tense do they use?

2. Which sentences describe experiences or recent actions where the exact time is not stated? Which tense do they use?

3. In (c) and (e), where do just and already go — before or after the main verb?

4. Find the question in the lead-in that uses never. Could you add yesterday to it? Why not?

THE RULES

Complete the rules

Complete each rule with present perfect or past simple.

• Use the ________ for finished past actions when the time is mentioned or understood (in 2011, that night, last Tuesday).

• Use the ________ for past experiences and recent past actions when we do not say when.

• Just and already go before the main verb; yet goes at the end of negatives and questions.

CAREFUL

Never alone does not force the present perfect. If the period is finished — My grandfather never trusted banks — we still use the past simple.

PRACTICE

Right or wrong? Correct the grammatically wrong sentences.

1. Tomas has stopped gambling in 2024.

2. Have you ever hidden something from your partner?

3. When have you paid off your last debt?

4. I've just checked my bank balance. Bad idea.

5. She's found the credit card three weeks ago.

6. He hasn't told her the whole truth yet.

7. We already spent this month's budget, and it's the 14th.

8. My grandfather has never trusted banks. He kept everything under the bed until he died.

SPEAKING

The interview

Interview your partner. Every time they say "yes", dig for details in the past simple: When was it? How much did you lose? What did you do?

1. Have you ever won money?

2. Have you ever regretted a purchase?

3. Have you ever lent money and lost a friend?

4. Have you ever lost sleep because of money?

5. Have you ever been scammed?

6. Have you ever given money to a homeless person?

PICTURE

(you add this)

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

GIST Around 60,000 euros — and very nearly his marriage: his wife left for three weeks and the relationship never fully recovered.

COMPREHENSION 1 In 2011. 2 His wife found the secret credit card and left with their daughter. 3 Two years and four months. 4 Last Tuesday.

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 (b) and (d) — past simple. 2 (a), (c) and (e) — present perfect. 3 Before the main verb. 4 Has never been in debt — no: never covers "life up to now", while yesterday fixes a finished time and needs the past simple.

RULES past simple · present perfect

PRACTICE 1 wrong — stopped gambling in 2024 (or has stopped gambling).

2 right.

3 wrong — When did you pay off...?

4 right.

5 wrong — She found the credit card three weeks ago.

6 right.

7 wrong (British English) — We've already spent... US English allows the original.

8 wrong — his life is finished, so: My grandfather never trusted banks.