Perfect Tenses

The perfect tenses include:

• Present Perfect

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.

• Past Perfect

We use the Past Perfect tense to emphasize that an action in the past finished before another action in the past started. This tense is also used in reported speech, third conditional sentences, or to show dissatisfaction with the past.

• Future Perfect 

We use the Future Perfect tense to talk about actions that will be finished before some point in the future. We also use this tense to express situations that will last for a specified period of time at a definite moment in the future. The last use is to express certainty that an action was completed.

Basic Form

PRESENT                          Subject + HAS/HAVE + Verb (past participle form)

PAST                                Subject + HAD + Verb (past participle form)

FUTURE                           Subject + WILL HAVE + Verb (past participle form)

Negative 

PRESENT                     Subject + HAS NOT/HAVE NOT + Verb (past participle form)

PAST                                Subject + HAD NOT + Verb (past participle form)

FUTURE                           Subject + WILL NOT HAVE + Verb (past participle form)

Questions

PRESENT                          HAS/HAVE + Subject + Verb (past participle form)

PAST                                HAD + Subject + Verb (past participle form)

FUTURE                           WILL + Subject +  HAVE + Verb (past participle form)

Examples

         I have seen that movie twenty times.
         Jane has never been so angry.
         People have not traveled to Mars.
         Have you read the book yet?

         I wish I had had enough courage to kiss her!
         Had she eaten the dinner before she went to the cinema?
         Mary said she had not visited her father for a long time.

         I will have retired by the end of this year.
         Will you have bought a new processor by the end of this week?
         You will not have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.

     

      Exercise

      present-perfect 

      past-perfect

      future-perfect

references

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

http://www2.chappaqua.k12.ny.us/hgfaculty/jasarris/perfect_tenses/perfect%20tenses.htm

http://www.curso-ingles.com/