LESSON C (3) GRAMMAR 2
The perfect aspect
Present perfect
The present perfect looks back from now to a time before now. There are four main uses.
- a state that started in the past and is still continuing
I've lived here all my life.
- a completed action in the past which has some relevance to the present (e.g. a present result)
There has been a severe storm and the airport is now closed.
- finished actions in a period of time that is still continuing
I've been there once already today.
- actions in the past which may happen again
Deborah Tannen has written several books on communication. (She could write more books.)
! Use the past simple, not the present perfect, when talking about definite time in the past.
Our lesson finished at four o'clock.
Past perfect
The past perfect looks back from time in the past to another time before that.
She'd applied for ten jobs before she got this one.
We can use the past perfect to describe a sequence of events. The past perfect describes the first action.
When we arrived, the train had left. (First the train left, then we arrived.)
We can use just or already to show that the first action happened recently or earlier than expected.
We arrived at six but the train had just left.
When we arrived, the film had already started.
We can use the past perfect for repeated earlier actions.
By 2006 Deborah Tannen had written 20 books.