Perfect tenses use a form of have with the past participle. Present perfect: I have finished. Past perfect: I had finished before you arrived. Future perfect: I will have finished by six.
The past perfect shows that one past action happened before another: “By the time we arrived, the film had started.”
Avoid shifting tense without a reason. “Yesterday she has gone to the dentist” mixes a finished time (yesterday) with the present perfect; it should be “Yesterday she went to the dentist.”
Worked example
Complete with the past perfect: “When we reached the station, the train ___ (leave).”
- Leaving happened before reaching the station.
- Past perfect: had + past participle (left).
Answer:When we reached the station, the train had left.
Key words
- perfect tense
- a tense with have + past participle
- past perfect
- had + past participle, for an earlier past
- tense shift
- changing tense in a sentence or text
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.5.1b, L.5.1d