The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

The perfect aspect

HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

The perfect aspect is expressed with the auxiliary have and the past participle form of the verb. Depending on the time of the action, we use one of the following forms of have: the past (had), present (have, has), modal + infinitive (e.g. will have) or -ing (having).

The perfect aspect focuses on the completion of an event. It expresses that the action had, has or will have been completed by a specific point in time. This point in time may be defined by a time expression (by 5 o'clock) or a clause (by the time you get home, when I arrived).

Examples of the perfect aspect:

I

've lived

here for ten years.

(from 10 years ago until now)

By 5 o'clock, he

had finished

the letter.

(at some time before 5 o'clock)

When I arrived, they

had

already

left

.

(at some time before I arrived)

Have

you

seen

my new bike?

(at any time up to now)

I

will have done

the ironing by the time you get home.

(between now and when you get home)

He

might have missed

the train.

(at some time before now)

Having taken

the wrong turn, he ended up in a dangerous neighbourhood.

(he turned before he found himself in a dangerous neighbourhood)

Quotes:

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. - Thomas Edison

Related topics:

The past participle used to form the perfect aspect

Past perfect

Present perfect

Future perfect

The forms of the infinitive

The forms of the gerund

The forms of the participle