English III (Verb Tenses PART III)

                                                                PERFECT TENSES

Present Perfect Tense
- describes an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continues in the present. This tense is formed by using has/have with the past participle of the verb. Most past participles end in -ed. Irregular verbs have special past participles that must be memorized.

Examples:

The researchers have traveled to many countries in order to collect more significant data.
Meaning: At an indefinite time

Women have voted in presidential elections since 1921.
meaning: Continues in the present

Past Perfect Tense
- describes an action that took place in the past before another past action. This tense is formed by using had with the past participle of the verb.


Example:
By the time the troops arrived, the war had ended.


Future Perfect Tense
- describes an action that will occur in the future before some other action. This tense is formed by using will have with the past participle of the verb.

Example:
By the time the troops arrive, the combat group will have spent several weeks waiting.



                                          Perfect Progressive Tense
   
- describes actions that repeated over a period of time in the past, are continuing in the present, and/or will continue in the future.


Present Perfect Progressive
- tells you about a continuous action that was initiated in the past and finished at some point in the past; however, the action has some relation to the present time. Use have/has + been + ing.

Examples:
It has been raining, and the street is still wet.
I have been running, and I am still tired.
She has been practicing the piano, and she is much better now.


Past Progressive Tense
- illustrates a continuous action in the past that was completed before another past action. Use had + been + ing.

Examples:
It had been raining, and the street was still wet.
I had been running, and I was still tired.
She had been practicing the piano, and she had gotten much better.


Future Perfect Progressive
- indicates a continuous action that will be completed in the future. Use will + have + been + ing.

Examples:
By tonight, it will have been raining several hours, and the street will be very wet.
By next summer, I will have been running for almost a year, and I will be fit and healthy.
By the time of the concert, she will have been practicing the piano for several months, and she will be much better.

	Simple Forms	Progressive Forms	Perfect Forms	Perfect Progressive Forms
Present	take/s	am/is/are taking	have/has taken	have/has been taking
Past	took	was/were taking	had taken	had been taking
Future	will/shall take am/is/are going to take	will be taking	will have taken	will have been taking