The three perfect tenses in English are the three verb tenses which show action already completed. (The word perfect literally means "made complete" or "completely done.")

They are formed by the appropriate tense of the verb to have plus the past participle of the verb.

Present Perfect: I have seen it.

(Present tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the present.)

Past Perfect: I had seen it.

(Past tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the past.)

Future Perfect: I will have seen it.

(Future tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the future.)

Some authorities consider the passive voice of certain verbs that are always intransitive to be the perfect tense also.

Example: They are gone.

Example: He is risen.

The Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is an analytical form which built up by means of the auxiliary verb to have in the Present Indefinite and the participle of the notional verb (e. g. I have worked, he has worked, etc.). The same auxiliary is used to form the interrogative and negative forms (e. g. Have you worked? Has he worked? He has not worked. They have not worked). In spoken English the contracted forms I’ve, he’s, she’s, it’s, we’ve, you’ve and they’ve is used in affirmative sentences and haven’t and hasn’t in negative sentences.

The Present Perfect falls within the time sphere of the present and is not used in narration where reference is made to past events. It follows from that that the Present Perfect is used in present-time context, i. e. conversations, newspaper and radio reports, lectures and letters.

The Present Perfect has three distinct uses. They will be further referred to as Present Perfect I, Present Perfect II and Present Perfect III.

1) Present Perfect I is the Present Perfect proper. It is used to express an accomplished action which is viewed from the moment of speaking as part of the present situation. Attention in this case is centred on the action itself. The circumstances under which the action occurred appear unimportant and immaterial at the moment and need not be mentioned.

e. g. He is very sensitive, I have discovered that.

I’ve had a talk with him. He says he has all the proof he wants.

Such news! We’ve bought a racehorse.

“I’ve spoiled everything”, she said.

His secretary said tactfully: “I’ve put off your other appointments for a while.”

It should be especially noted that though the action expressed in the Present Perfect is regarded as already accomplished, it be¬longs to the present-time sphere and is treated as a present action. It becomes obvious from the periphrasis:

I've heard the doctor's opinion —> I know the doctor's opinion. She's gone off to the woods —> She is in the woods.

A similar idea of an accomplished action is also traced in such expressions referring to the present as He is awake. I'm late. The work is done. The door is locked, etc.

Since it is the action itself that the Present Perfect makes im¬portant, it is frequently used to open up conversations (newspaper and radio reports, or letters) or to introduce a new topic in them. However, if the conversation (report or letter) continues on the same subject, going into detail, the Present Perfect usually changes to the Past Indefinite, as the latter is used to refer to actions or sit¬uations which are definite in the mind of the speaker. Usually (but not necessarily) some, concrete circumstances of the action (time, place, cause, purpose, manner, etc.) are mentioned in this case.

e.g. "You are all right. You are coming round. Are you feeling better?"

"I'm quite all right. But what has happened? Where am I?"

"You're in were buried by a bomb from a trench-mortar."

"Oh, was I? But hоw did I get here?" "Someone dragged you. I am afraid some of your men were killed, and several others were wounded."

"Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat,

Where have you been?" What did you see there?"

"I've been to London "I saw a little mouse

To look at the Queen." Under her chair."

As is seen from the above examples, the Present Perfect is used to name a new action, whereas the Past Indefinite is used to refer back to a definite action and the attention in this case is of¬ten drawn rather to the circumstances attending the action than to the action itself.

Note. The functions of the Present Perfect and the Past Indefinite may be in a way compared with those of the indefinite and the definite articles.

The indefinite article is used when an object is just named (e.g. Give me a book. She is a teacher. I have a brother). Likewise the Present Perfect serves to name an accomplished action (see the examples above).

Both the definite article and the Past Indefinite are used when an object or an action, respectively, is definite in the mind of the speaker (e.g. The book is on the table. The teacher returned the compositions.)

As has been said, Present Perfect I is mainly used to introduce a new topic. But it may also be used to sum up a situation.

e.g. "I've done bad things," I said, "but I don't think I could have done some of the things you've done." "Yo

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