Perfect Tenses
in an Imperfect World
I use this title because I
want to emphasize that perfect tenses have
absolutely nothing to do with perfection...as
we know it.
------------X---------------------Now---------------------->
1. We use the Present
Perfect to indicate that something in the past is
connected to something
in the present.
|
The child knows fractions now. The
child had a lesson in fractions in
the past.
(Fractions are parts of a number:
one half, one quarter, one eighth.)
| Jian-Hui: Have you seen Gone with the Wind, Eileen? Eileen: Yes, I have. I liked it very much. |
Eileen has seen the movie and is
familiar with it. She did not specify
WHEN she saw it.
2. We use the Present
Perfect with a repeated activity before now.
| I have taken the TOEFL test three times. |
This is the third time I have taken the TOEFL. |
I took the test three times before
right now. I am taking
the test now.
I am not not necessarily
taking the test now.
3. We use the Present
Perfect with "for" or "since" for an activity or
action that starts in the past and continues into the present.
| Ahmed has lived in Cairo for six years. |
It's been raining for six days. |
(He still lives there.)
(It's still raining.)
| I've been staying at the Hilton since Tuesday. |
The temperature has been above 30 degrees Centigrade since June 01. |
(I stayed there last night and every
night
(It's still very hot.)
since Tuesday.)
The words "for" and "since" indicate
that an action is unfinished.
Use "for" to express a period of
time.
Use "since" to indicate the start
of an action or activity.
Past Perfect
4. When we speak
in the past perfect, we are talking about at least
two
events in the past.
---------X----------X-----------Now--------------->
| The the door on the freezer had been open for 24 hours when we discovered it. All the food had gone bad. |
When Juan arrived at the party, I had already gone home. |
These two examples indicate
that one event in the past occurred before
the other.
Note: the bold-face type
indicates the Past Perfect. Use the Past Perfect to indicate the action
that happened first.
5. We also use the
Past Perfect to indicate actions that happen repeatedly
in the past.
| He had been to Cairo several times before he was appointed Public Affairs Officer at the Cairo USIA post. |
This is something that happened several
times in the past before a different,
more recent, action happened.
Past Perfect Progressive
6. When we speak in
the past perfect progressive, we emphasize the duration
of an event.
| The man had been waiting to see a doctor for two hours. |
Walter had been taking Spanish lessons since he was in high school, so he should have been pretty good. |
The past perfect progressive
also may express an activity in progress for
a reason in the past.
| Sandra was exhausted because she had been running to catch the bus. |
The children were dirty because they had been playing in the mud. |
Sometimes we use the Past Perfect
Progressive for minor detective work!
| I came home and saw that the pillows were on the floor, so I knew that my dog, Homer, had been lying on the sofa. |
Mrs. Brown saw cookie crumbs on the counter, so she knew that her husband had been snacking. |
Forming the Perfect
Tenses
To form the Present Perfect, you
need the past participle form of the verb
preceded
by have or has.
For regular verbs, this is the simple form
plus -ed. Click here to find a very complete list of the
past participles of irregular verbs. .
| Regular Verbs: | Irregular Verbs: |
| I have walked to work this week. |
I have eaten at this restaurant many times. |
| Eva has learned the periodic table of elements. |
He's flown American Airlines every time he's gone to Rome. |
| Aditya had reminded me twice before I finally fixed the washing machine. |
They had met each other three years before college. |