Perfect Tenses English has 6 tenses present I

English has 6 tenses: present I eat. past present perfect I have eaten. past

Note that all the perfect tenses include have, has, or had. present perfect I

• Note: You need to be sure to distinguish between “have (has, had)”

“Perfect” means complete. All perfect tenses are past tenses. Present perfect is complete up

Tense timeline: past perfect past pres. perf. present future perfect future This shows what

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Perfect Tenses

English has 6 tenses: present I eat. past present perfect I have eaten. past perfect I ate. I had eaten. future perfect I will eat. I will have eaten.

Note that all the perfect tenses include have, has, or had. present perfect I eat. I have eaten. past perfect I ate. future I will eat. I had eaten. future perfect I will have eaten. If it doesn’t include have, has, or had, it isn’t a perfect tense.

• Note: You need to be sure to distinguish between “have (has, had)” as a main verb & as a helping verb that is part of the perfect tense: I have $5. 00. They had 2 children. He has a dog. You will have 2 days. I have done my homework. I had already eaten. He has bought a dog. You will have finished the book.

“Perfect” means complete. All perfect tenses are past tenses. Present perfect is complete up to the present moment: I have lived here for 10 years. This means my living here began in the past, & 10 years are complete at this point, but the living here isn’t. Past perfect is the past of the past: He did well on the test because he had studied. “Did” is in the past; before that, the studying occurred. So “had studied” is the past of the past verb “did. ” Future perfect is the past of the future. I will have read the entire book by tomorrow. “Tomorrow” is the future point; the reading isn’t complete now, but it will be complete before the future point.

Tense timeline: past perfect past pres. perf. present future perfect future This shows what was presented on the previous slide. The past perfect is the past of the past. The future perfect is the past of the future. The past & present perfect work in the same time frame; the way you view the action determines which of the two you need: I haven’t eaten breakfast. – This suggests that you may eat breakfast, that the not eating is complete to this point but may change. I didn’t eat breakfast. – There’s no chance now that you’re going to eat breakfast.

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