We all know that in tandem with the past participle of a verb, the auxiliary verb “have” inflects or changes into the forms “has” or “had” or pairs off with the auxiliary verb “will” to denote the present perfect, past perfect, or future perfect. But precisely when should a sentence be constructed in a particular perfect tense, and what are the specific timelines for the three perfect tenses?
In the essay below that came out in my English-usage column in The Manila Times last February 19, 2011, I discuss those timelines for the perfect tenses along with the various ways that these tenses can be used to describe events and occurrences as they unfold in time. I trust that these discussions will be a welcome review for those who need to fortify their mastery of this very important aspect of English grammar. (February 21, 2011)
The specific timelines for the perfect tenses
(1) To express a state or condition that began in the past and leads up to the present: “The accomplices have kept their vow of silence for decades.”
(2) To express habitual or continued action: “She has worn anklets since she was ten.”
(3) To indicate events occurring at an indefinite time in the past (used with the adverbs “ever,” “never,” and “before”): “Some people have never gone to college due to poverty.”
(4) To indicate that an action happened only recently (used with the adverb “just”): “My brother has just finished college.”
(5) To indicate that an action happened more than once, but it’s not important or necessary to know exactly when: “She has seen that movie a dozen times.”
(6) To indicate that something that happened in the past continues to influence the present: “The El Niño phenomenon has altered weather patterns very seriously. “
In case 1, the past perfect component is paired off with at least one other past action in the simple past tense, as in “Rowena had left to work in Dubai when her scholarship was approved.” Note that this past perfect sentence consists of two separate actions, one in the past perfect and the other in the simple past.
In case 2, the present perfect doesn’t require the explicit use of another action completed before another past event, as in “Rowena had left” and “ The heavy rains had lasted a month.” In such past perfect sentences, precisely when the action took place is unspecified or unknown. When it is known, the sentence takes the simple past tense, as in “Rowena left yesterday” and “The heavy rains stopped last night.”
The future perfect. This tense, which pairs off the past participle with the auxiliary verbs “will” and “have,” is used in sentences that consist of an action that continues into the future and another action or point of time—expressed in the simple present tense—in which the action culminates or ends. There are four possible scenarios for this:
(1) A future action that will be completed before another time or event in the future, as in “I will have taken the board examinations by 2012.
(2) An action or condition that will continue up to a certain point in the future, as in “The nurse will have worked in Bahrain for six years by the time she retires.” Take note that in such sentences, an existing condition remains unchanged until a specific future time.
(3) A future event that will occur before a specific time or action in the future. “By the time the irrigation project is completed, its original cost estimate will have ballooned almost five times.”
(4) A future event whose completion is more important than how long it will take to complete it. “By the time she finishes high school, her parents will have spent a little fortune for her tuition fees.” This use of the future perfect dramatizes the importance of the end-point or result of a process rather than the process itself. (February 19, 2011)
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From the weekly column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in The Manila Times, February 19, 2011 © 2011 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
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