Present Perfect 1
Perfect Tenses Verb Chart
Present Perfect 2
Present Perfect
Progressive
Past Perfect
(present tense) have + past
participle

(present tense) have + past
participle of main verb
(present tense) have + past
participle of be + present
participle of main verb
(past tense) have + past
participle of main verb
Action that happened before
now, at an unspecified point in
the past. It may be a repeated
action.
Action that happened before
now, at an unspecified point in
the past, AND continues to
the present.
Action that began in the past
and is still in progress right
now.
Action or situation that happened in
the past BEFORE a second action
that occurred in the past.
There are two events. Both events
happened in the past, and both are
finished. The past perfect talks
about the first event only.
I have met your cousin.
He has seen that movie five
times!
Signal words:
so far
already (midsentence)
yet (end of sentence)
They have lived in Seattle since
March. (They still live here now.)
We have been studying
grammar since the quarter
started. (We started the first day of
We had studied the present perfect
tense before we studied the past
perfect. (First, we studied the present
They have lived in Seattle for 5
months. (They still live here now.)
the quarter, and we are still studying
now.)
perfect. Next, we studied the past perfect.
Both of these actions are over: it’s the end
of the term)
Used with nonprogresssive
verbs, too:
I have known him for three
terms.
We have been studying
grammar for eight weeks. (We
Signal words:
Signal words:
for + length of time
since + specific time
started eight weeks ago, and we are
still studying now.)
for + length of time
since + specific time
We had started class when the
student arrived. (Both events are over,
and occurred many times during the term.
First, we started class. Then, the student
arrived late.)
Perfect Tenses Verb Chart