Learn English – Recent past ” something just happened “

past-vs-present-perfect

talking about recent past " some thing happened few seconds ago " is one of the uses of present perfect ?
For example : I'm walking with my friend " Ooh, I have dropped my pen, can you help me to find it ? " … is that right ? If it's right so, present perfect the only tense can be used to talk about very recent actions or past simple aslo ?

Best Answer

The word just can be used in the Present Perfect tense to speak about something that happened a short time ago:

  • I have just dropped my pen. Can you help me find it?

"Just" is mostly used in the Present Perfect and comes between the auxiliary verb (have) and the past participle.

Another possible way to say it is to use the set phrase "just now" which means only a moment ago; a little time ago; at this moment.

  • I (have) dropped the pen just now. Can you help me find it?
Related Topic