Perfect Tenses

The three perfect tenses in English are the three verb tenses which show action
already completed. (The word perfect literally means "made complete" or
"completely done.")

They are formed by the appropriate tense of the verb to have plus the past
participle of the verb.

Present Perfect: I have seen it.

(Present tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the
present.)

Past Perfect: I had seen it.

(Past tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the past.)

Future Perfect: I will have seen it.

(Future tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the
future.)

Some authorities consider the passive voice of certain verbs that are always
intransitive to be the perfect tense also.

Example: They are gone.

Example: He is risen.
Past Perfect

[had + past participle]

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action
in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the
past.

Examples:

• You had studied English before you moved to New York.

• Had you studied English before you moved to New York?
• You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

Present Perfect

[has/have + past participle]

Examples:

• You have seen that movie many times.

• Have you seen that movie many times?
• You have not seen that movie many times.

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.
Future Perfect

Future Perfect has two different forms: "will have done" and "be going to have
done." Unlike Simple Future forms, Future Perfect forms are usually
interchangeable.

FORM Future Perfect with "Will"

[will have + past participle]

Examples:

• You will have perfected your English by the time you come back from the
U.S.
• Will you have perfected your English by the time you come back from the
U.S.?
• You will not have perfected your English by the time you come back from
the U.S.

FORM Future Perfect with "Be Going To"

[am/is/are + going to have + past participle]

Examples:

• You are going to have perfected your English by the time you come back
from the U.S.
• Are you going to have perfected your English by the time you come back
from the U.S.?
• You are not going to have perfected your English by the time you come back
from the U.S.

NOTE: It is possible to use either "will" or "be going to" to create the Future
Perfect with little or no difference in meaning.