What Are the Perfect Tenses? (with Examples)

What Are the Perfect Tenses? (with Examples)

Perfect tense is a category of verb tense. It covers the past perfect tense, the present perfect tense, and the future perfect tense. It is sometimes called the complete tense.

The three perfect tenses describe finished actions.

Examples of Verbs in the Perfect Tense

Here are some examples of verbs in the perfect tense:

The Past Perfect Tense
  • I had gone.
  • He had seen.
The Present Perfect Tense
  • I have gone.
  • He has seen.
The Future Perfect Tense
  • I will have gone.
  • He will have seen.

The Perfect Aspect

The term perfect aspect is used to group all verbs (past, present, and future) in the perfect tenses. (Remember, the aspect of a verb is determined by whether its action is ongoing or completed.)
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See Also

What is verb tense? What is aspect? What is the perfect aspect? What is the past perfect tense? What is the present perfect tense? What is the future perfect tense? Glossary of grammatical terms