Present Perfect
The present perfect tense is formed with have or has plus the past participle of the main verb.
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SINGULAR
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PLURAL
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Have or Has + Main verb
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Have + Main verb
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I have
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gone
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We have
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gone
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You have
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come
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You have
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come
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He has
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learned
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learned
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She has
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studied
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They have
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studied
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It has
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gone
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Usages of the present perfect:
(1)To express activity that has lasted from a stated point of time in the past up to the moment of speaking.
Examples:
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Present moment of speaking
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Stated time
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He has been here
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since 1950.
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He has spoken English
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since he was a child.
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I have studied French
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since 1955.
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(2)To express an activity that has lasted form an indefinite time in the past up to the moment of speaking. This is expressed in some languages by the present tense.
Examples:
- I have been here a long time.
- They have been here several years.
- He has studied English a long time.
- They have spoken French several years.
(3)To express an activity that has occurred one or more indefinite times in the past but does not continue to the present moments of speaking.
Examples:
- I have been to New York several times.
- He has played football from time to time.
- He has appeared on television occasionally.
(4)To refer to an activity that has been completed a short time before the moment of speaking.
Examples:
- He has just left.
- He has worked very hard.
- They have been here.
Past Perfect
The past perfect tense is formed with had and the past participle of the main verb.
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SINGULAR
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PLURAL
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Had+ Main verb
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Had + Main verb
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I had
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gone
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We had
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gone
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You had
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come
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You had
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come
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He had
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learned
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They had
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learned
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She had
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studied
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It had
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stopped
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Usage of the past perfect:
To express occurrence of an event in the past that occurred before another event in the past.
Examples:
- I had finished my work when the Captain came.
- The train had left when he arrived.
- He had already called the doctor when I got there.
Notice that in the above examples the past perfect is used in the main clause and the past tense is used in the subordinate clause. However, in some constructions the second clause is omitted.
Examples:
- He had never seen tobacco before.
- They had never heard such beautiful music.
- He had already heard the story.
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