PERFECT TENSE

We use one of the three perfect tenses to show an action that has taken place as of the present time

or is continuing in the present time (present-perfect tense), that hadtaken place as of a past time
(past-perfect tense), or that will have taken place as of a future time (future-perfect tense).

We form the perfect tenses by using the verb to have as an auxiliary verb and adding the

past participle of the main verb.

Present-Perfect Tense, Defined

We form the present-perfect tense by using the present tense of have (has or have) and adding the

past participle of the main verb.

The present-perfect tense shows a connection with the past and a connection with the present. Its
use is appropriate in three situations: (1) to show experience, (2) to show a change or new
information, and (3) to show a continuing action or state.

1.  to show experience from something that happened or didn’t happen in the past

The event was in the past; you have experience from it or knowledge of it. We don’t care when
it happened or didn’t happen. You know it happened or didn’t happen, and you
have experience from it.

She  has seen  Bridget Jones’s Diary.  He  has  never  eaten  escargot.

2. to show a change or new information

Here the present is the opposite of the past. Yesterday, the kidnapper was free; today he is in

custody. Yesterday, was the price of gas lower? Is it higher today?

The  FBI  has arrested  the kidnapper.  Has  the  price  of gas  gone up  again?

3. to show a continuing situation

The action or state started in the past and continues in the present. The action or state might very

well continue in the future.

I have worked on this website for several years. How long have you known Fred?

Remember the three conditions: (1) to show experience, (2) to show a changewhere the present is

the opposite of the past, and (3) to show a continuing action or state that started in the past. If one
of these conditions doesn’t persist, then the present-perfect tense is incorrectly used.

Use of  for  or  since  with the Present-Perfect Tense

You’ll often use the words for or since with the present-perfect tense. The

word forwill establish a duration of time, since an identified moment when the action or statebegan.
Take a look:
1. The word for establishes a duration of time.

He  has practiced  medicine  for  25 years.  She  hasn’t called  for  a long time.

2. The word since identifies the moment when the action or state began.

I  have been  here  since  9 o’clock.  She  has worked  for that law firm  since  leaving  law school.

Past-Perfect Tense, Defined

We form the past-perfect tense by taking the past tense of have (had) and addingthe

past participle of the main verb. The past perfect is also called the pluperfect tense.

The past perfect shows what’s called the remote past. Or it shows a past within a past.

The regular past tense will establish a moment in the past. For example, you might use the
past tense and say, “When I arrived at her house ….” Then you wouldswitch to the past-
perfect tense to show that something happened before you arrived.

Thus:

When I  arrived  at her house, she  had finished  dinner.

The past-perfect tense does not require other words showing an established past, words such

as when I arrived at her house. The past perfect will move the time back further; it will show a
more remote past. Consider the following:

I wasn’t thirsty. I  had  just  drunk  a Perrier.  We were hungry. We  hadn’t eaten  for six hours.

Past Perfect in Indirect Quotations

We often use the past-perfect tense when we report on the speech of others or of

ourselves. Watch for the words told, said, explained, thought, wondered, and others.

Suppose as a direct quotation, a woman says, “The plane has left.” Or suppose a man says,

“I wonder if I have been there before.” When reporting these quotationsas indirect
speech, writers use the past perfect. Notice that the tense moves back from the present perfect (has
left, have been) to the past perfect (had left, had been):

She  told  us that the  plane  had left.  He  wondered  if he  had been  there  before.

Future-Perfect Tense, Defined

The future-perfect tense is formed by taking the future tense of have (will have) and adding the

past participle of the main verb.

The future-perfect tense refers to an action that will be completed at some definitetime in the

future. Ironically, it expresses a past in the future. That is, the future-perfect tense expresses
an action or state taking place before another action or time period in the future.

For example, suppose you will arrive at the airport at 10:15 a.m. Suppose the planewill leave at

10:00 a.m. Thus:
 When you  arrive  at the airport, the  plane  will have left.

Other examples include:

You may call me at my  office  tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. I  will have arrived  by then.They will
be  exhausted  when they land tomorrow. They  will not have slept  for many hours.

Some Controversy

In my writing courses, students sometimes contend that the perfect tenses don’t

say anything different. For example, they’ll argue that I have decided doesn’t say anything different
from I decided. Or they’ll say that I had decided differs not one bit from I decided. They’re wrong, of
course, else they’d be teaching the course.

The perfect tenses show an accomplished fact in relation to a particular point in time in the present,

the past, or the future. Read this sentence and you’ll see that you cannot express the thought in
any other way:

When I arrived, he  had finished  his dinner.

Substitute the straight past tense for the past-perfect tense and see what you get:

When I arrived, he  finished  his dinner.

This latter statement suggests, or could suggest, that after I arrived, he finished his

dinner, whereas the past-perfect tense makes it plain that by the time I
got there hehad already finished his dinner.

So the teacher who advised one of my students never to put the word had in front of a verb just

didn’t know what she was talking about. With a single utterance, she abolished the past-perfect
tense.

Forming the Perfect Tenses

As noted above in the discussion of past participles, you form the perfect tenses by conjugating the

verb to have and adding the past participle of the verb.

Thus, the three perfect tenses (in first-person singular) look like this:

Perfect Tense

Example Present-Perfect Tense I have decided to retire.

Past-Perfect Tense (Pluperfect) I had decided to retire.

Future-Perfect Tense I will have decided to retire