When do you use perfect tenses?

Answer 1

You use perfect tenses when the action is, was, will be, or would have been, complete at the time spoken of.

For example:

'I have finished my meal.' (I am speaking about the present time, and my action - eating my meal - is complete.)

'I had finished my meal when they rang me.' (I am speaking about the past, and my action - eating my meal - was complete at that time.)

'They will have finished their meal by the time you get there.' (I am speaking about the future, and their action - eating their meal - will be complete at that time.)

'We will have finished our meal if you get here at 2 o'clock.' (I am speaking about the future, and the action - eating our meal - will be complete if a condition is met.)

'They would have finished their meal if they had started eating sooner.' (I am speaking about the past, and the action - eating their meal - would have been complete if a condition - starting earlier - had been met.)

Answer 2

Perfect tenses are used to indicate actions that are completed or have been completed in relation to a specific point in time. Present perfect is used to show actions that have relevance to the present, past perfect is used to show completed actions before a specific point in the past, and future perfect is used to show completed actions that will happen before a specific point in the future.

Answer 3

The past perfect tense is used to show one action is completed before another action happens. The past perfect is created with the auxiliary verb has + a past participle.

• Example: Mary sold the car that she had worked so hard to buy. (The action of working is finished when Mary bought the car.)

The present perfect tense shows an action that began in the past and either continues in the present or has some effect on the present. The present perfect is created with the auxiliary verbs have/has + a past participle.

• Example: Mark has been a police officer for seventeen years. (Mark became a police officer in the past and is still one today.)

The future perfect tense shows that an action will be completed at a specific time in the future. This tense is created with the auxiliary verb will and have + a past participle.

• Example: By next Thursday, the workers will have finished the chimney repairs.