Written by Leny Ortega

In the previous posts, I have summarized the simple tenses. In this post, we summarize the perfect tenses. Review exercises are provided below to assess your mastery of the lesson.

Perfect tenses have three types: Present perfect, Past perfect and future perfect.

The present perfect tense denotes actions that began in the past and continues up to the present time. It is also used to suggest events that happened at unspecific time before now. Has (singular) and have (plural) + past participle of the given verb are used to form the present perfect tense.

The past perfect tense of the verb is formed with Had (for singular and plural noun)+ past participle of the verb. This tense of the verb is used to express an action that happened before another past action occurred. Always remember that the second past action must use the simple past tense of the verb.

Similarly, for the future perfect tense two actions/events are required here. But, these actions are intended to be completed in the future. Expressions such as by tomorrow, by next year, ten years from now, etc. are commonly used plus the future perfect tense (will have + past participle). This is to suggest that the action is completed before a certain time.

Practice Quiz

Choose the correct form of the perfect tense for each of the following sentences.

1.) Ebola virus (has, have) spread in countries like Africa.

2.) The reinforcement team (arrived, had arrived) after the forty-four Special Action force members (has died, had died) in the encounter.

3.) The country (will have experienced, will experience) drought before the summer comes next year.

5.) The government of China (expressed, has expressed) its desire to end the territorial row with the Philippines.

6) Melinda (will have become, had become) a lawyer before her mother retires.
World Health Organization (WHO) (warned, had warned) the public about the MERS-COV before it became widespread.

7.) The government (ordered, has ordered) recall of a certain brand of apples in the market because of its toxic contamination.

8.) Food and Drug Administration (has advised, have advised) the public against the proliferation of untested diet pills in the market.

9.) The US government (has tested, had tested) all its local produce before it reached the market.

10.) Two years from now, Melinda (will have been, will become) a licensed physical therapist.

Answer key

1. Has
2. Arrived, had died
3. Will have experienced
4. Has experienced
5. Will have become
6. Had warned
7. Has ordered
8. Has advised
9. Had tested
10. Will have been