a lot of questions

[bayan said]

hello!tanks for the last time but I sent a message about that & which in relaative clauses & didn`t find it..where is it? & how &where can I find my messages &your replies to my messages? which icon shoul I choose to read your replies if I send you a message today & won`t be able to open it on friday? anyway..my questions this time are:
1- would you explain this grammar" If either befor or after is used in a sentence the past perfect is often not necessary"when do we use the simple past instead of the past perfect in a clause that begins with befor or after?
2- I`ve read the two sentences"why do you say that,mom?"and" here she comes"why isn`t persent progressive used in both of them?
3- I`ve read"It`s ages since we went out together"why didn`t the speaker say "It`s been ages since we went out together"?
4- I`ve read this sentence"what have you say in your defense?".Why is "say"used here?

[Tdol]

Click on your profile and there's an option to look at all of your pasts.
1 When the sequence is clear, we often just use the simple past- before/after make the sequnce of events clear.
2 The present simple can be used for an action of very short duration at the exact moment it happens- the prgressive implies duration, while your examples are very short (have little duration)
3 You can use both forms
4 That's a mistake; it should be 'have to say'.