Wasit University

Financial And Banking Department

3rd Stage
English

Present Perfect
&
Past Perfect

Lecture
Asst.Lec. Alaa K. Kadhem

Prepared by: ‫نورا ضياء حسون‬

Present Perfec:

Definition of the present perfect tense

The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the
past. The time of the action is before now but not specified, and we are often
more interested in the result than in the action itself.

The present perfect is formed using has/have + past participle. Questions

are indicated by inverting the subject and has/have. Negatives are made
with not.

Example:
 Statement: You have seen that movie many times.
 Question: Have you seen that movie many times?
 Negative: You have not seen that movie many times.

Present Perfect Uses

USE 1 Unspecified Time Before Now

We use the present perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified

time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the
present perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year
ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment,
that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the present perfect with unspecific
expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so
far, already, yet, etc.
The Present Perfect is used to describe

1. An action or situation that started in the past and continues in the

present.
I have lived in Bristol since 1984 (= and I still do.)

2. An action performed during a period that has not yet finished.

She has been to the cinema twice this week (= and the week isn't over
yet.)

3. A repeated action in an unspecified period between the past and now.

We have visited Portugal several times.

4. An action that was completed in the very recent past, expressed by

'just'.
I have just finished my work.

5. An action when the time is not important.

He has read 'War and Peace'. (= the result of his reading is important)

Forming the Present Perfect

The present perfect of any verb is composed of two elements :

the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb to have (present tense), plus the
past participle of the main verb.
The past participle of a regular verb is base+ed, e.g. played, arrived, looked.

Figure 1 Example for forming the Present Perfect tense

Past Perfect:

Definition of the past perfect tense

The past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It is used to make it
clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter
which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened
first.

The past perfect is formed using had + past participle. Questions are
indicated by inverting the subject and had. Negatives are made with not.

Example:

 Statement: You had studied English before you moved to New York.
 Question: Had you studied English before you moved to New York?
 Negative: You had not studied English before you moved to New
York.

Past Perfect Uses

USE 1 Completed Action Before Something in the Past

The past perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another
action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a
specific time in the past.
USE 2 Duration Before Something in the Past (Non-Continuous Verbs)

With non-continuous verbs and some non-continuous uses of mixed verbs,

we use the past perfect to show that something started in the past and
continued up until another action in the past.

Functions of the past perfect

The past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It is used to make
it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not
matter which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one
happened first.

Forming the past perfect

The Past Perfect tense in English is composed of two parts: the past tense of
the verb to have (had) + the past participle of the main verb.

Past perfect + just

'Just' is used with the past perfect to refer to an event that was only a short
time earlier than before now, e.g.

 The train had just left when I arrived at the station.

 She had just left the room when the police arrived.
 I had just put the washing out when it started to rain.
References:

Education First Canada

Present Perfect
https://www.ef.com/ca/english-resources/english-grammar/present-perfect/

Past Perfect Tense

https://www.ef.com/ca/english-resources/english-grammar/past-perfect-tense/

English Page

Present Perfect
https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html

Past Perfect
https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html