Perfect Tenses
Present Perfect Tense
Usage
When an action completed in the immediate past or when an action that began at some in the past and continues up to the present moment, we use present perfect tense to describe it.
Structure
Subject + has/have + verb III + remaining sentence.
Subject + has not/have not + verb III + remaining sentence.
Has/have/hasn’t/haven’t + subject + verb III + remaining sentence?
Question words+ Has/have/hasn’t/haven’t + subject + verb III + remaining sentence?
Examples
Affirmative sentences:
- He has just gone out.
- I have known him for a long time.
- We have lived here for ten years.
- My English has improved since I moved to Britain.
- We have lived here since January 2010(Note the usage of since and for)
- Negative sentences:
- I have not seen him since last week.
- I have not seen him for a long time.
- He has never been to Switzerland.
- Ravi hasn’t finished his work till now.
- The pharmaceutical companies haven’t yet developed a vaccine for Covid-19.
Interrogative sentences:
- Have you ever met the Prime Minister?
- Haven’t you ever felt love for me?
- Has he ever completed his work on time?
- Hasn’t he known his father to be impractical?
- Have the doctors not yet found the treatment for Covid-19?
- Where have you been when we needed you?
- Whom have you learned this from?
- What has he done to his hair?
- Why hasn’t she completed her work on time?
- When has Neha ever understood my problems?
Past Perfect Tense
Usage
The past perfect tense describes an action completed before a certain moment in past. So, we often find this tense in the complex sentences.
Structure
Subject + had + Verb III + remaining sentence
Subject + had not + Verb III + remaining sentence?
Had/Hadn’t + subject + Verb III + remaining sentence?
Question word+ Had/Hadn’t + subject + Verb III + remaining sentence?
Examples
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Affirmative sentences:
- When I reached the station, the train had started.
- I had just left my house when it started to rain.
- When we went to the cinema, the film had already started.
- Neha had walked for half an hour before she found a taxi.
- Ravi thanked me for what I had done.
-
Negative sentences:
- I hadn’t even spoken for two minutes, when she started to shout.
- Ravi hadn’t finished his workout when the phone rang.
- Neha had barely opened the door, when the burglar pushed into her house.
- I had never seen Hari so angry as he was on that day.
- The criminal had not escaped when the police arrived.
-
Interrogative Sentences:
- Hadn’t you saved your work before the computer crashed?
- Hadn’t you known him to be a cheat?
- Had Ravi ever made such a gross mistake before?
- Had you reached the station when the train arrived?
- Hadn’t you finished your work when the boss asked
Future Perfect Tense
Usage
The future perfect tense is used to talk about actions that will he completed by a
certain future time.
Structure
Subject + will have + verb III + remaining sentence.
Subject + will not have + verb III + remaining sentence
Will + subject + have/not have + verb III + remaining sentence?
Examples
Affirmative sentences:
- He will have completed his project by Saturday.
- Metro rail will have started by the end of the year 2020.
- Dhoni will have played his 100th match by the completion of this tournament.
- You will have gone to school when your grandfather will reach home.
- By the time you reach the station, the train will have left the platform.
Negative Sentences:
- The boys won’t have come home yet.
- They will not have the building constructed by December because of the
- He will not have finished his revision before the test.
- Ravi won’t have written his exercise by then.
- I will not have bathed by 7am.
Interrogative sentences:
- Will you have achieved success by the time you reach middle age?
- Will you have reached perfection in your dance moves before the competition
- Will Dhoni not have played enough cricket by the time he retires?
- By the end of this year, will Hari not have worked here for 20 years?
- After writing how many more articles, will the columnist have finished writing 100 columns?
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