Different meaning betweenp resent perfect and preterite?

Question

Nosotras hemos paseado después de la comida. We went for a walk after lunch. Hi, is the meaning different for present perfect and preterite here? Gracias, Shirley.

Accepted Answer

Hi there Shirley ...
 
The use of the 'Present Perfect' tense [i.e., haber + Past participle] implies some sort of link to the current (present) context. For example, here it might perhaps indicate that we are now feeling much better for that walk. The comment was almost certainly made on the same day as the walk. 
 
The simple Preterite ['indefinido'], on the other hand, is normally preferred when describing events or situations which are no longer directly relevant to the present.
It is indeed true that both versions are best translated in the same way: "We went for a walk ..." > Sometimes the Present Perfect can be rendered into English using the corresponding "have ..."  construction. In this instance, however, it would have sounded rather odd [in English] to have said "We have gone for a walk after lunch" - even if that remark had been made just a few minutes after returning to the house... [More natural would have been: "We have just been for a walk (through the park, or wherever)].
 
Cheers !
David Mc

Answer

Hola Shirley
The use of the perfect tense in Spanish implies "somehow" being or feeling connected to the present as if we hadn't moved on yet, as David said. 
You will find that occasionally in our examples, test-questions, etc there is a sentence using the perfect in Spanish but the preterite in English because for the English to be using the perfect tense, there must be an extra nuance that triggers it, for example with "we've just..." as David mentioned, or some extra details in the sentence, for instance: "We've gone for a walk after lunch every day this week""
Saludos cordiales
Inma