Question about some translations in this lesson

Question

I am confused as to when to use the present tense vs. the passe compose.  For example:

Rien n'est arrivé.
Nothing has arrived.Nothing has happened.

It is to do with the use of "has".

For 
Rien n'est arrivé.
Nothing has arrived.Nothing has happened.

Why not

Nothing arrived.Nothing happened.

Or, why not say

Rien n' arrive

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Melody !

Actually in this case, I agree that "Nothing happened/arrived" would be a more common translation. However, you could also use "Nothing has happened", as Le Passé Composé overlaps both Present Perfect and Simple Past.
If you said "Rien n'arrive", it would mean either "Nothing happens/arrives" or "Nothing is happening/arriving".

You can also have a look at this lesson:
Using the present tense (Le Présent) - and not the compound past (Le Passé Composé) - in sentences with "depuis" (since/for) in French (French Prepositions of Time)

I hope that's helpful !
Bonne Année !