The Perfect tenses
Perfect tenses generally focus on how a past action affects the present.
For example, “I have already eaten.” The suggestion is that the speaker is not hungry.
When you are talking about grammar, perfect has a different meaning. It comes from the Latin word perfectum, which means “complete.”
The most important thing to remember is the perfect tenses always refer to completed actions.
Past Participles
Past participles are used for all perfect tense forms of a verb and in the passive voice in English.
For regular verbs, we normally add ED to form its past participle.
walk: walked
talk: talked
There are no rules for irregular verbs – it is just a matter of practice.
| Verb | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| arise | arose | arisen |
| babysit | babysat | babysat |
| be | was / were | been |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| bend | bent | bent |
| begin | began | begun |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bind | bound | bound |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| bleed | bled | bled |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| breed | bred | bred |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | cut |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feed | fed | fed |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forbid | forbade | forbidden |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got (BrE) gotten (AmE) |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grow | grew | grown |
| hang* | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | knew | known |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie ** | lay | lain |
| light | lit | lit |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| quit | quit | quit |
| read *** | read | read |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| set | set | set |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| shine | shone | shone |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| show | showed | shown |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| slide | slid | slid |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| speed | sped | sped |
| spend | spent | spent |
| spin | spun | spun |
| spread | spread | spread |
| stand | stood | stood |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| strike | struck | struck |
| swear | swore | sworn |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| swim | swam | swum |
| swing | swung | swung |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| understand | understood | understood |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| win | won | won |
| withdraw | withdrew | withdrawn |
| write | wrote | written |
* HANG – Hang has two different meanings. The first is “to attach (or hang) something in a high position” (e.g. on the wall or on a hook – hang a painting on the wall). In this case we use the above verbs Hang-Hung-Hung.
BUT when Hang means “to kill someone by putting a rope around someone’s neck and leaving them in a high position without any support”, we use different verbs: Hang-Hanged-Hanged. This verb is typical of public executions in the past. (e.g. They hanged him in the main square.)
** LIE – Lie has two meanings. When it means “to put your body in a horizontal position” (normally on a bed) it uses the Lie-Lay-Lain verbs.
BUT it is regular Lie-Lied-Lied when it has the other meaning of “not to speak the truth”.
*** READ – Even though they are written the same, the pronunciation is different in the Past Tense and Past Participle form.
Present perfect
You form the present perfect using has or have followed by a past participle verb.
For example, “I have seen Star Wars.”
The use of the present perfect here gives us three pieces of information.
First, it tells us that the event is finished.
Second, it tells us that the exact time of the action is unknown or unimportant.
Third, it suggests that the experience of seeing Star Wars has some effect in the present.
One of the most difficult distinctions for English learners to make is the difference between the simple past and present perfect.
Remember, when there is a specific time, you use the simple past. In the sentence “I saw Star Wars last night,” the adverb last night is a specific time.
You cannot say “I have seen Star Wars last night.” But, you could say, “I have seen Star Wars before” or “in the past” or “three times.”
You should also use the present perfect to refer to a repeated action in the past. For example, “I have taken that test four times.” The exact time of each action is not important.
You can also use the present perfect to describe an action that did not happen, using the adverb never. “I have never traveled outside of my country” and “I have never smoked in my entire life.” Something that did not happen in the past, like not traveling and not smoking, can also have an effect in the present.
The adverbs never, already, yet and so far are common in the present perfect. Adverbs are often the best indicators of which verb tense to use.
Exercise
Fill in the blanks using the past participle. Use have or has.
She ___ (eat) all of the cookies.
Maxwell ___ (write) his essay.
Thomas ___ (find) a new friend.
George and Kerry ___ (go) to the mountains.
The president ___ (not/ give) his speech yet.
Carolyn ___ (not/ talk) to Richard.
The teachers ___ (give) us the homework.
The cowboys ___ (drink) all the beer.
The swimmers ___ (swim) across the lake.
The boy ___ (fall) down.
We ___ (choose) to meet with Mr. Green.
You ___ (wear) that dress for 5 days.
We ___ (not/ drive) the truck since 1999.
Past Perfect
The past perfect describes an activity that was finished before another event in the past. For example, “She had already had a baby before she graduated.”
To form the past perfect, use had followed by a past participle verb. For the second action, use before or by the time followed by the simple past verb. Imagine you were at a New Year’s Eve party, but you fell asleep before midnight. You could say, “I had already fallen asleep before the New Year came.”
You can use the past perfect to talk about how an experience from the distant past relates to an experience from the more recent past. For example, “The soldier wasn’t scared because he had already been in battle before.”
In other words, battle was not a new experience for the soldier.
If the time relationship is clear, you can choose between the past perfect and the simple past. “My grandfather passed away before I was born,” has the same meaning as “My grandfather had passed away before I was born.”
The past perfect just emphasizes that the first action was completed before the second action.
Choose the past simple or the past perfect tense
1) We had already eaten when John (come) home.
2) Last year Juan (pass) all his exams.
3) When I (get) to the airport I discovered I had forgotten my passport.
4) I went to the library, then I (buy) some milk and went home.
5) I opened my handbag to find that I (forget) my credit card.
6) When we (arrive) at the station, the train had already left.
7) We got home to find that someone (break) into the house.
8) I opened the fridge to find that someone (eat) all my chocolate.
9) I had known my husband for three years when we (get) married.
10) Julie was very pleased to see that John (clean) the kitchen.
11) It (rain) never all summer, so the grass was completely dead.
12) When he (arrive) at the party, Julie had just left.
13) After arriving home, I realised I (buy) any milk.
14) The laundry was wet – it (rain) while I was out.
15) William felt ill last night because he (eat) too many cakes.
16) Keiko (meet) William last September.
17) First I tidied the flat, then I (sit) down and had a cup of coffee.
18) John (play) the piano when he was a child, but he doesn’t play now.
19) When I opened the curtains the sun was shining and the ground was white. It
(snow) during the night.
20) When Julie got home from her holiday, the flat was a mess. John (have) a party.
Future perfect
Use the future perfect when you know that one future action will be completed before another future action. For example, “I will have graduated from college before my little brother graduates from high school.”
The future perfect has very limited use because we rarely know a future sequence of events with any certainty. When it is used, the future perfect usually refers to major life events that are planned years in advance.
Exercise Future Perfect Tense
1) By 10 pm tonight, I (finish) this report.
2) By 10 pm tonight, we (have) dinner.
3) By 10 pm tonight, she (leave) Paris.
4) By 10 pm tonight, John (meet) Lucy.
5) By 10 pm tonight, they (take) the exam.
6) By 10 pm tonight, it (stop) snowing.
7) By 10 pm tonight, I (read) all of this book.
8) By 10 pm tonight, you (fall) asleep.
9) By 10 pm tonight, she (watch) the film.
10) By 10 pm tonight, he (arrive).