Haven't / Didn't

Hello Yankee,

And what would happen if we put "didn't"
"I didn't go bungee jumping", that would mean that you have already gone bumgee jumping, right?

Thanks in advance!

Good question, Pucca.

"I didn't go bungee jumping" --> Without any other context, that would mean to me that there was a specific opportunity to go bungee jumping in the past (last Saturday, for example) and I did not take advantage of that opportunity to go.

HOWEVER

An American might also say "I didn't ever go bungee jumping". 
Adding the word 'ever' can change the meaning to 'at no time in the past up to now'.  But this sentence could also mean that I had been planning to go bungee jumping on a certain date in the past, but in the end I didn't go.

Ana, if you are trying to understand the difference between the present perfect and the past simple, well, you can't? And why? Because every learner have been trying to do that since English was invented, but no one has ever succeeded! It is a trap!

Ok, seriously, I can tell you the way I see it.

The present perfect gives me the idea of an implicit "up to now", "yet", "already", "I don't now when but that thing happened in a "time window" that ends right now, and that affects the present situation". For that reason (the last thing I said), it can be used to emphasize that something is strongly related to the present situation. But be careful, because Americans like the simple past, so most use the simple past in that case.

The past simple gives me the idea of a generic past tense, which you can use in most occasions to refer to something that happened before now (even if it happened less than one second ago).

Examples:
Oh my God! Where are my cookies? Somebody ate 'em! (good. Past event.)
Oh my God! Where are my cookies? Somebody has eaten 'em! (good. You don't know when they were eaten, but that happened in a time window that lasts up to now. The fact that someone ate them is relevant now ---> surprise, oh my God, I want my cookies, etc.)
I personally tend to use the simple past, the more simple past, the less I'm likely to sound odd to Americans, hehehe.

Ouch! Oh no! It hurts... ahhh, I think I broke my leg! (good, past event, it happened 3 seconds ago, but it's the past, isn't it?)
Ouch! Oh no! It hurts... ahhh, I think I've broken my leg! (I was told to avoid this. Maybe you broke your leg, maybe you didn't, but you know that happened at a specific point in time, that is when you said "ouch". Maybe Brits find the present perfect ok, though.)

I've become what I've always hated. A police officer! (good, this is describing something that happened gradually up to now, and now I'm a police officer. I've always hated police officers, because I was a criminal once.)
I became what I (had) always hated. A police officer! (good, but it's different. It refers to an occasion in the past. You became a police officer some time ago)

I've learned two languages: English and Plectroclinthese. (good. This tells me you've learned two languages "yet", "up to now". You maybe also want to learn some other language now, or plan to do so in the future)
I learned two languages: English and Plectroclinthese.  (good, this is a simple fact, something that happened in the past. You learned two languages, maybe when you were in school, or some years ago, who knows).

Conclusion: you can't learn the difference, because not even native speakers know the difference. What I do is choose the verb considering what I just wrote, and try to avoid the present perfect whenever I don't think I really need it (American English rule of thumb to play it safe, heh)
Then I hope I'll learn over time. Maybe in ten years I'll be able to use the right verb tenses, just by trusting my istinct.


That's all, I'm tired to write in this thread.

Kooyeen wrote:

Where are my cookies? Somebody ate 'em! I think I broke my leg!

As a native BrE speaker I see both of these examples as wrong.