Past participles

[asjohnson]

How do you know when to use just the past tense and when to use the past participle tense of a verb when writing?

[Tdol]

The past participle will come after have/had for the present or past perfect, where there is a connection to present time or a past time, or after be when used in the passive. The past tense is for a finished action in a finished time period, while the present perfect is either unifinished or connected to now.