https://www.englishforums.com/English/WentOrHaveGone/vdcl/post.htm
I went to the store.
I have gone to the store.
Which is correct and what is the difference?
buggah:I went to the store. (simple past tense)
I have gone to the store. (present perfect tense)
* Simple past tense
It is used to talk about states or events that took place at a specified time in the past and are not happening any longer. Ex.:
. I went to the store [this morning].
. I called you yesterday.
. I didn't know the difference between simple past and present perfect.
* Present perfect tense
- Actions that happened at some time in the past, but the exact time is not necessary (or not needed). You want to emphasize the action. Ex.:
. Have you seen The Last Samurai?
. I have been here before.
- Actions that started in the past and have a connection with the present. Ex.:
. I've lived in Brazil since for three years.
. I have never been to Itally.
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2506577&langid=22
Hello,
I came across these 2 sentences:
"I have gone to the supermarket this weekend"
"I went to the supermarket this weekend"
Supposedly, only one is correct, but I'm not sure. I would say, because of the "this" the present perfect, however, I don´t know if you can say also with the past simple. Maybe it's one of these things that, in spoken language at least, both are ok.
What do you think?
The simple past tense focuses on a specific act in the past as in "I went to the supermarket this weekend".
The present perfect tense focuses on the result in present time of a past action as in "I have often gone to that supermarket". This sentence suggests that the speaker is familiar with the supermarket as a result of having been there often. Ordinarily you cannot use an indicator of specific time with the present perfect. 'This weekend', 'last year', 'on Tuesday' are examples of such indicators. Thus in most cases "I have gone to the supermarket this weekend" would not be correct.
However, if you are in fact focusing on the result of a past action or of past actions, the last sentence can be correct. Consider "I have already gone to the supermarket 3 times this weekend". The added words make it clear that you are focusing on result. "I have gone to the supermarket this weekend" could be interpreted to be an expression of result, especially if 'gone' is emphasized in the spoken language. Similarly "I have taken my medicine this morning".
I cannot think of any context in which *"I have gone to the supermarket last weekend"
would be correct. You have to say "I went to the supermarket last weekend".
For me there is no significant difference between "I have gone to the supermarket this weekend" and "I have been to the supermarket this weekend".