The Perfect Tenses and Their Perfect Progressive Forms

In the previous piece, we discussed basic verb tenses: the simple/plain and the progressive. Now we shall round out the topic by focusing on the simple/plain perfect tenses and the perfect progressive tenses.

The simple perfect tenses (also known as complete tenses) are the three verb tenses that describe action already finished or completed. These tenses attach has, have, or had to a participle (a form of a verb that may function as an adjective). Every one of the simple perfect tenses—present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect—has its own progressive form. The progressive perfect tense refers to an act that is not yet complete and is continuing, taking place over a length of time. The simple and progressive forms may be interchanged in many constructions.

Below is a description of each tense:

1. 1. The present perfect tense, according to The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), refers to “an act, state, or condition that is now completed or continues up to the present.”

How it is formed

• has/have + past participle (regular verbs ending in -ed and irregular forms vary)

Agatha has traveled to Mumbai.

All the teams have flown to Delhi.

1. 2. The present perfect progressive tense describes an action that started in the past, continues in the present, and may continue into the future.

How it is formed

• has been / have been + present participle (base form + -ing)

Dwight has been putting off this project for weeks.

Brody and Jim have been going to the gym for the past six months.

1. 3. The past perfect tense, per CMOS, denotes “an act, state, or condition that was completed before another specified past time or past action.”

How it is formed

• had + past participle (regular verbs ending in -ed and irregular forms vary)

She had thrown the document in the garbage before we even realized it was gone.

By the time Miranda arrived with the money, her little siblings had borrowed fifty grand from their neighbor Ed.

1. 4. The past perfect progressive tense refers to a past continuing action that was completed before some other past action.

How it is formed

• had been + present participle (base form + -ing)

Ethan had been studying French for a year before he left for Ivory Coast.

Lindsey and Yuri had been dating before Yuri even met Dana.

1. 5. The future perfect tense, according to CMOS, describes “an act, state, or condition that is expected to be completed before some other future act or time.”

How it is formed

• will have + past participle (regular verbs ending in -ed and irregular forms vary)

They will have cooked the lamb by the time Abe finishes with his bruschetta.

Jonas will have grown an inch to his beard before winter comes.

1. 6. The future perfect progressive tense describes a future continuing action that will occur before some specified future time.

How it is formed

• will have been + present participle (base form + -ing)

By the time of her completion, Catherine will have been writing her piece for the essay-writing competition for five weeks.

The artists will have been painting the mural for a month when they unveil it to the public.

That does it for verb tenses. Next, we will tackle another property of a verb that needs to be heard—the voice.