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I often confuse these two things:
"I reached home" and "I have reached home".
Once my friend asked me, "Where are you? " I messaged him: "I have reached home".
He told me not to use "have reached "...

reached = past tense, have reached = present perfect

Can someone please clear this doubt so that I don't make the mistake again.

JSBձոգչ
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Kanagasabapathy Rajkumar
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  • I'd say, "Don't used reached for relating routine travel status." It's, "I'm almost home" or "I just got home" or "I'm at home." You should consider using English Language Learners for future questions like this. – Jim Jan 01 '14 at 15:27
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    Please have a look at the following questions. The first one provides a general overview of how the different tenses in English correspond to one another. The second one, and the related questions linked from there, addresses the choice between Present Perfect and Simple Past more directly. The third one addresses an important difference between British and American English. For more information still, we have a dedicated tag, which I have added to your question. – RegDwigнt Jan 01 '14 at 15:53

1 Answers1

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If you were texting the message as you were getting home, or just after arriving home than it should be:
"I've reached home."
You use the present perfect because the time of the action is not specified and the important information is that your journey's over and you are now at home.

If you specified a time then you'd have had to use the preterite:
"I reached home a couple of minutes ago (at 10...)."
Or if you were in a sequence of events, e.g :
"I reached home and had somethingto eat."

None
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