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The perfect aspect in English is formed, in its most basic state, with a form of the verb “have” plus the main verb in the past participle.
Example: have left, as in She has left.
Variations can be made on this. We can shift the “reference time” from the present (as above) to the past and get the past perfect (She had left…); we can shift the reference time to the future (She will have left…); and we can add a continuous aspect to the main verb (she has been leaving…).
What we get, then, are the six essential forms of the perfect:
Present perfect simple:
have/has + past participle (has played)
Present perfect continuous:
have/has + been + main verb –ing (have been playing)
Past perfect simple:
had + past participle (had played)
Past perfect continuous:
had + been + main verb –ing (had been playing)
Future perfect simple:
Will have + past participle (will have played)
Future perfect continuous:
Will have + been + main verb –ing (will have been playing)
We will now examine each variation above (past, present and future, simple and continuous) on its own for a further analysis of the function and usage of each perfect in present, past and future reference times.
Present perfect The present prefect tends to be one aspect that will without a doubt cause problems for English learners. It is used by native speakers much more often than the past perfect or future perfect and therefore deserves first attention here.
Though the present perfect is often taught in comparison with the past tense, and sometimes as a past tense, I believe that it tells as much or more about the present than it does about the past. In most cases, it is used in contexts where the focus is on the present. I would like to suggest here that the present perfect informs us so much about the present (as opposed to the past) that it perhaps could rightfully be taught as a present tense that is “dragging its tail” in the past.
With all perfects, there is a time reference point which the perfect tends toward. The reference point of the present perfect is the here and now and the present perfect has relevance to the here and now. This current relevance is more important to the speaker’s meaning of the utterance than is the fact that this or these events occurred in the past.
The present perfect can be used to express:
A single action that was completed very recently:
The tournament has just ended. (Relevance to current context: It is over now.)
A single event in the past (not recent past) with current relevance:
She has already beaten this opponent once this year. (Relevance to current context: She is capable of beating her in this current tournament.)
An event or situation that began in the past and continues into the present:
He has been ranked number one in the world for two years. (Relevance to current context: He is still ranked number one and this began at sometime in the past. These sentences often use for or since in the time clause.)
An action that occurred more than once during a specific period of time that began in the past and isn’t over yet:
She has won four matches so far in this tournament. (Relevance to current context: The tournament began in the past and it isn’t over yet.)
A repeated action that occurred over time in the past and is completed prior to the here and now:
She has beaten this opponent five times in the past seven meetings. (Relevance to current context: She has a good record against this opponent and is favored to beat her again.)
In subordinate clauses of condition or time:
Time clause: She has never won at this tournament and won’t be satisfied until she has won that trophy. (In spoken English we might just as well dispense with the perfect here and say “…and won’t be satisfied until she wins that trophy.”)
If she hasn’t won the match today then her chances of ever winning this tournament are finished. (In the context of knowing that the match has finished but the speaker does yet know the result of the match.)
Present perfect continuous The present perfect continuous (also known as the present perfect progressive) expresses a situation, occurrence or habit that started in the past and continues in the present, where there is an ongoing or repetitive nature to the verb.
He has been flying commercial airlines for twenty years now. (And he is still flying.)
I have been going to Europe every couple of years since the early 1980s. (And I still do this.)
It also expresses the incompleteness of an action in progress:
She has been taking piano lessons. (She is still taking piano lessons. Compare this to: She has taken piano lessons.)
With the present perfect simple and continuous, these occurrences, events or experiences took place in the past and may or may not continue into the future; no time frame or point of time is made specific or implied (other than that the occurrence, event or experience occurred before now and may have started at a particular point in the past); and there is relevance to the present here and now. Some authors have referred to this current relevance as a “result” but that implies a clear cause and effect relationship, and I do not see this to always be true. For this reason I prefer to call it “relevance.”
With occurrences, events or experiences that took place in the past, and a specific time is mentioned or is implied, we tend to use the past simple or past continuous. Let’s look at each of the sentences above for relevance to the here and now, and for contrast with a variation of each sentence that would only fit into the past simple or past continuous.
The tournament has just ended. (Relevance to current context: It is not going on any longer so, for example, we can’t watch any more matches.)
Compare with:
The tournament ended earlier today.
*The tournament has ended earlier today. (Most native speakers of English will tell you, without knowing why, that this sentence “doesn’t sound right.” The time marker “earlier today” puts it squarely in the past simple.)
She has already beaten this opponent once this year. (Relevance to current context: She is capable of beating her in this current tournament.)
Compare with:
She beat her [this] opponent twice last winter. (Time in the past is specified.)
*She has beaten her opponent twice last winter.
He has been ranked number one in the world for two years. (Relevance to current context: He is still ranked number one and this began at sometime in the past.)
Compare with:
He was ranked number one in the world for two years. (This sentence, though it has no specific time marker in the past, does specify a time frame, would be considered by native speakers to be referring to the past and only the past. But if the speaker’s interlocutor wants more information, one question she might ask is “When?”)
*He was ranked number one in the world since two years.
She has won four matches so far in this tournament. (Relevance to current context: She is still in the tournament and is doing fairly well.)
Compare with:
She won four matches in this tournament last year.
*She has won four matches in this tournament last year.
She has beaten this opponent five times in the past seven meetings. (Relevance to current context: She has a good record against this opponent and is favored to beat her again.)
Compare with:
She beat this opponent five times in her career. (In the sentence above, her career is not finished. In this previous sentence he career is understood to be finished.)
*She has beaten this player five times when she was an active player. (“When she was an active player” is a time marker and requires the past simple or continuous.)
He has been flying commercial airliners for twenty years now. (Current relevance: He is still flying and has a lot of experience.)
Compare with:
He was flying commercial airliners for twenty years before he retired. (No current relevance, see the time marker “before he retired” putting the sentence squarely in the past.)
*He has been flying commercial airliners for twenty years before he retired.
I have been going to Europe every couple of years since the early 1980s. (Current relevance: My life experience, regarded in a current context, includes many trips to Europe.)
Compare with:
I was going to Europe every couple of years in those days. (But not any more.)
*I have been going to Europe every couple of years in those days.
She has been taking piano lessons. (She is still taking piano lessons.)
Compare with:
She has taken piano lessons before. (But not any more—still with no time marker indicated, we use the present perfect.)
She was taking piano lessons when we first met. (Time marker in the past “when first met” and therefore the past simple.)
*She has been taking piano lessons when we first met.
The time marker or an implied understanding of a specific and terminated time in the past in the past calls for use of the past tense as opposed to the perfect. Clear relevance to the present calls for the present perfect.
When teaching the present perfect, I recommend that it be approached through comparison not only with the simple past (as it tends to be taught) but also in conjunction with a study of the present tenses. The present perfect as a bridge between the past and the present describes the legacy of the past as it is important in the present.
Present perfect with adverbs of frequency We tend to use the present perfect in utterance with adverbs of frequency, and with “ever” in a question:
I have never been to a prestigious tennis tournament.
Have you ever played tennis?
We have always watched the tournament on TV.
We have rarely (if ever) missed it.
They have sometimes thought about going to see the US Open, but they haven’t found the time.
One activity to do with students learning the present perfect is to present them pairs of similar sentences, on in the past tense (simple or continuous) and another in the perfect (simple or continuous). Ask students to discuss the differences between the pairs. Also ask the students to discuss the relevance to the current context that each present perfect sentence might have.
Past perfect The past perfect simple is formed by starting with had, and adding the main verb in the past participle form:
had left (She had left…)
We use the past perfect to express a past event prior to another past event, and especially when there is some relationship between the two. When there is no relationship between the two past events other than a sequential one, we will often use two past simple verbs. Compare these sentences:
She won the tournament five times before she retired from tennis. (No relationship between the two events except a sequential one.)
She had won the tournament five times already before she entered it this year. (At the time of the tournament starting she had plenty of experience and success with it and was a favorite.)
In the first sentence there is little or no relationship between the two events other than a sequential one. In the second sentence there is a relationship between the tennis player having won five times prior to the start of the same tournament this year and her standing in the tournament this year.
Compare these two sentences:
The match ended before it got dark.
The match had ended before it got dark.
The first sentence does not suggest any connection between the end of the match and nightfall. The second sentence suggests some connection, even if a subtle one, such as apprehension during the match that it might not be finished before darkness fell (which fortunately did not happen). The context of this sentence will eliminate any ambiguity.
We also use the past perfect in the subordinate clause of imaginative or past conditional clauses.
If it hadn’t grown dark they could have finished the match.
Past perfect continuous The past perfect continuous (also known as the past perfect progressive) indicates an event that occurred over a duration before another past event, and usually with some connection between the two. The second, or later event may interrupt the earlier event (which is expressed by the past perfect).
He had been playing very well until he reached the quarterfinals. (And then he simply fell apart.)
Compare this with:
She was playing very well and she reached the quarterfinals.
Though both sentences suggest that her playing changed upon reaching the quarterfinals, the first sentence expresses this connection with less ambiguity and puts more emphasis on the clause in the past perfect and therefore the contrast between prior to the semifinals and the semifinals.
Compare these two sentences:
We were waiting for two hours before the fireworks began.
We had been waiting for two hours before the fireworks began.
The second sentence again puts more emphasis on the two-hour wait.
With until, by the time, when, and before, the past perfect and past perfect continuous, as compared to the simple past and past continuous relative to a subsequent past event, add emphasis to the prior event and even a more pronounced “shift” into the second clause.
Compare:
She was the best player in the world until that match.
She had been the best player in the world until that match.
The second sentence suggests more convincingly that after the match she was no longer considered the best player in the world.
She played professionally for four years by the time she turned twenty years old.
She had played professionally for four years by the time she turned twenty years old.
The first sentence does not seem quite right though it is clear and comprehensible. It seems to be begging for the past perfect in the first clause, which leads up to the second clause.
The weather was threatening rain for hours when drops finally began to fall.
The weather had been threatening rain when drops finally began to fall.
The past perfect continuous in the second sentence here also helps to suggest that the event or situation in that clause leads up to the event expressed in the second, past simple clause. The same is true as shown in these sentences with before:
He won several tough matches before he was defeated by his arch-rival.
He had won several tough matches before he was defeated by his arch-rival. (This sentence seems to be asking for the adverb “finally” to be added.)
The past perfect continuous also expresses an action in the past that was occurring and gets interrupted by another past event. This is typically expressed with when:
She had been leading in the match when she was injured and had to leave the court.
Many of the clauses above expressed in the past perfect or past perfect continuous would not lose too much meaning if they were expressed in the simple past or past continuous. The past perfect will help your students to add some nuance to their language. I suggest that you give your student the opportunity to together pairs of past tense clauses, experimenting with use of the past perfect simple and continuous.
Future perfect The future perfect describes a future occurrence or event that will be complete before a future point in time:
His plane will have arrived by 8:00 pm.
It also expresses a future occurrence or event that will be complete before a future event:
His plane will have arrived before we get to the airport.
As we have seen with other perfects, there is a relationship between the perfect clause and the subordinate time clause. Consider these two sentences:
His plane will arrive by 8:00 pm.
His plane will have arrived by 8:00 pm.
The first sentence seems to be implying “by 8:00 pm and no later than that,” whereas the second sentence seems to be implying that 8:00 is a deadline of sorts, an importance in the time 8:00 pm that the context of the utterance can tell us more about.
Future perfect continuous The future perfect continuous (also known as the future perfect progressive) describes a future occurrence or event that begins after the here and now and before a future event, and continues at the time of the future event:
By the time we finish our project we’ll have been working on it for way too long.
The astronauts will have been travelling in space since last Tuesday by the time the Shuttle comes back to earth.
Notice the use of for and since in these two sentences. Because the future perfect continuous describes an event that continues as it meets the future reference point, for and since can begin the time clauses, whereas before and until cannot. Compare:
By the time we finish our project we’ll have been working on it for way too long.
When we finish our project we’ll have been working on it for way too long.
and
The astronauts will have been travelling in space since last Tuesday when the Shuttle comes back to earth.
The astronauts will have been travelling in space since last Tuesday by the time the Shuttle comes back to earth.
By the time appears to be a better choice for the time class of each of these sentences than does when. Native speakers can determine this by using their linguistic intuition, something your non-native speakers likely will not have fully developed in English.
Conclusion The perfects help to connect an occurrence, event, situation or experience taking place at a present, past or future reference time, to its relative past, and to show some connection between the two other than a sequential one.
The perfects can be studied by having students analyze and discuss clauses and sentences where the perfect should be used and sentences where it shouldn’t be used. In some cases a clause or sentence will “sound all right” whether a perfect is used or not. It is up to the teacher to suggest what he linguistic intuition tells her is the better sentence, but also give students the opportunity to develop their own in English. |
