Transcript of SOS Grammar - Lesson 6 - Present vs Past Perfect Tenses

SOS Grammar - Lesson 6 - The Present Perfect vs the Past Perfect

Today, we're going to compare the Present Perfect and Past Perfect tenses in English.

You can review 'Tense' more thoroughly in Lesson 3 and the 'Perfect Aspect' in Lesson 4.3.

As a quick reminder, the 'Perfect Aspect' expresses consequences resulting from an action event or state that happened in the past. It links two points in time, an earlier point to a later point, which is usually the focus of the sentence.

The Present Perfect Tense.

The Present Perfect is formed by using 'have or has' + 'the past participle of a verb'.

It's used when referring to an action state or event that has either:

1. Occurred at an indefinite time in the past.

For example:

"I have seen the movie before." - But we don't know when that was in the past. It just happened at an indefinite time.

Or 2. Began in the past and continued to the present.

"Have you been to the shops today?" - So, today started in the past and goes up until the present, and I want to know if this person has been to the shops in the past all the way up to the present today.

You'll often notice in phrases with the Present Perfect Tense that words like 'recently', 'today', 'now', 'tonight', can be used, which indicate the period of time being spoken about is the past up until the present moment.

Remember, the 'Perfect Aspect' is used to link two points in time, a past point with a more recent or present point.

For example:

"I haven't had breakfast this morning." "Have you taken the dog for a walk today?"

The Past Perfect Tense.

The Past Perfect Tense is formed by using 'had' + 'the past participle of a verb'.

It's used when referring to an action state or event that was completed before another point in time in the past.

For example:

"I had eaten dinner before I saw the movie." - So dinner was eaten first in the past and then more recently, in the past, a movie was seen.

"He had just finished work when it started to rain." - So he finished work first in the past and then more recently, in the past, it started to rain.

You'll notice that in these two example phrases, the simple past tense is also used to place the second action, state, or event in the more recent past. So. 'Saw the movie', 'started to rain'.

So, by saying "I had eaten dinner before I saw the movie", we know that the event of 'eating dinner' happened further back in the past and that 'seeing the movie' happened more recently in the past.

If you wanted to reverse the events and put the movie first and the dinner second, the phrase would become:

"I had seen the movie before I ate dinner."

Notice how words like 'when', 'before', and 'after' can also be used to help indicate the order of events as well.

"I ate dinner after I had seen the movie."

"I had seen the movie before I ate dinner."

"I had already seen the movie when I ate dinner."

Comparing the present and the past perfect tenses.

Now, let's go through a few examples where we'll compare the Present and Past Perfect tenses.

Example one:

"I have been to Australia before." - The Present Perfect

So, at some unspecified time in the past, I went to Australia. It's also linked with the present where I may have knowledge about the country now, I may have an opinion about it, or I may be planning to go there again.

"I had been to Australia several times before I decided to move there" - Past Perfect

So in the past, I went to Australia several times. I did this before another more recent point in the past when I decided to move to Australia. So, travelling to Australia several times happened first, then moving to Australia happens second, but both of these events happened in the past and in that order.

2.

"She has never been skydiving." - Present Perfect

So in the period of time, that is the past and includes the present, all time that she's been alive, she has never been skydiving, though, maybe it'll happen today or at some point in the future.

"She had never been skydiving until she went this year with her friends." - Past Perfect

So, prior to going skydiving this year with her friends, a point in the recent past, she had never previously gone skydiving, a period in the distant past.

3.

"Pete hasn't had lunch yet." - Present Perfect

So, in the period of time that includes earlier today as well as the present moment today, Pete hasn't eaten lunch. By using the Present Perfect it suggests it's probably at or around lunchtime right now, and he still hasn't eaten lunch.

"Pate hadn't eaten lunch when his friends arrived."

Pete's friends arrived at a point in the more recent past, and prior to that point, in the more distant past, he hadn't eaten lunch.

4.

"Has the client's car been fixed yet?" - Present Perfect

Note: 'fixed' here is an adjective - 'to be fixed'.

In the period of time, that includes the past up until now in the present, the person wants to know if the client's car was fixed.

"Had the client's car been fixed before he showed up to collect it?" - Past Perfect

In the more recent past, the client has shown up to collect his car and the person asking the question wants to know if in the period of time before they showed up, in the more distant past, if the car had been fixed.

Summary:

The Present Perfect Tense is formed by using 'have' and 'has' + 'a past participle of a verb'.

It's used when referring to an action, state, or event that is either:

Occurred at an indefinite time in the past - "I have seen the movie before".

Or begun in the past and continued to the present - "He has just eaten dinner."

Words like 'today', 'recently', 'this evening' are often used in phrases with the present perfect to show that you're talking about the past up until the present point in time right now.

The Past Perfect Tense is formed by using 'had' + 'the past participle of a verb'.

It's used when referring to an action, state, or event that was completed before another point in time in the past - "I had eaten dinner before I saw the movie."

Words like 'after', 'until', 'when', 'before' are often used in phrases with the Past Perfect to further emphasise the order of the two actions events or states in the past.