Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Tense is a grammatical combination of present tense and the perfect tense, a kind of tense that is used to express an act, event, events that occurred in the past and still have something to do with it now or to indicate an event that is completed in a short time (just finished ).

The pattern:

(+) Subject + have/has + V3 + complement

(-) Subject + have/has Not + V3 + complement

(?) Have/Has + subject + V3 + complement

The examples:                                    

(+) We have met her twice.

(-)  We have not met her twice.

(?) Have we met her twice?

(+) Wulan has brought my book.

(-) Wulan has brought my book.

(?) Has wulan brought my book?

The Functions of present perfect tense

-         To express an event or action that occurred in the past and still have something to do with the present.

Example:

He has gone since morning.\

I have waited you since afternoon.

-         To express an event that already happened.

Example:

We have helped him.

Satriyandi has given me a book.

-         To express an action replay at a specific time is not usually wear such statements before, yet never, ever, already.

Example:

She has ever met us.

I have never promised to met her.

-         To express an act which was completed in a short time, usually using a description such as just, last, finally, recently.

Example:

He have just come here.

Yuni has invited them last.

Adverbs used:

-         once

-         several time

-         twice

-         this week

-         this month

-         many time

-         three time

-         this year

-         just

-         not yet

-         already

-         at last

-         so far

-         since yesterday

-         since 1991

-         never

-         ever

-         for an hour

-         finally

-         lately

-         recently

-         as yet

-         etc.

Note:

subject I à have

subject You, We, and They à have

subject He, She, and It à has

Present Perfect Continuous Tense is a kind of tense that is used to express the actions or events that are taking place in the past and is still in progress until now.

The pattern:

(+) Subject + have/has + been + verb 1 + ing + complement

(-)  Subject + have/has + not + been + verb 1 + ing + complement

(?) Have/Has+ Subject + been + verb 1 + ing + complement

The examples:

(+) You have been learning English for a year.

(-)  You have not been learning English for a year.

(?) Have You been learning English for a year?

(+) Friska has been living here for two years.

(-)  Friska has not been living here for two years.

(?) Has Friska been living here for two years?

Adverbs used:

-         for

-         since

-         long

-         for over two years

-         the whole day

-         since five o’clock

-         all morning

-         the whole night

Note:

subject I à have

subject You, We, and They à have

subject He, She, and It à has

Past Perfect Tense is a kind of tense that is used to describe an action or an event that started in a certain time in the past and completed or finished  till in a  certain time in the past too; or past perfect tense is used to express an action or an event that had happened before the other event or action happened.

The pattern :

(+) Subject + had + verb III + complement

(-) Subject + had not + verb III + complement

(?) Had + subject + verb III + complement?

The examples :                       

(+) They had gone when she called me.

(-)They had not gone when she called me.

(?) Had They gone when she called me?

(+) Swan had eaten when we called at to her house.

(-) Swan had not eaten when we called at to her house.

(?) Had Swan eaten when we called at to her house?

Adverbs used : 

-         from 1998 to 1999,

-         once,

-         twice,

-         before,

-         after,

-         until

-         as soon as,

-         etc.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense is a kind of tense that is to express an act or event that has been started in the past and is still going on in the past as well.

The pattern :

(+) Subject + had + been + verb 1 + ing + complement

(-) Subject + had + not + been + verb 1 + ing + complement

(?) Had + subject + been + verb 1 + ing + complement?

The examples :                       

(+) We had been cleaning the class when our teacher came.

(-)We had not been cleaning the class when our teacher came.

(?)Had We been cleaning the class when our teacher came?

(+) Faisal had been writing the lesson when I met him.

(-) Faisal had not been writing the lesson when I met him.

(?) Had Faisal been writing the lesson when I met him?