THE PERFECT ASPECT IN GRAMMAR

A verb has a "perfect aspect" if it conveys a CONSEQUENCE to a later point in time, with or
without a continuation of state or action to that point. Like most aspects, it is independent of, and
combinatorial to, tense and other verbal aspects.

It is called the "perfect" aspect (from the Latin "per fectus" which means "completely made")
because the meaning of the verb is only "perfected" (or "completed") by the consequence it extends
to that later point.

FORMS OF VERBS WITH THE PERFECT ASPECT APPLIED

Present perfect: have/has <past participle> (e.g. "has spoken")

Past perfect: had <past participle> (e.g. "had eaten")
Future perfect: will have <past participle> (e.g. "will have completed")

THE APPLICATION OF THE PERFECT ASPECT IN STANDARD ENGLISH

The perfect aspect is applied to a verb in standard English by (1) putting the verb into its past
participle form (e.g. "eaten," "pushed," "drunk," "been"), (2) preceding the participle with the
helping verb "to have," the tense of which indicates to what point the consequence extends (for
instance, the past perfect form ["had" <past participle>] indicates that the consequence extends to a
point in the PAST), and (3) if necessary, clarifying the nature of the consequence or specifying the
point to which it extends with supportive verbs, modifiers, or conjunctions.

EXAMPLES WITH EXPLANATIONS

PRESENT PERFECT
Verbs in the "present perfect" indicate that a CURRENT STATUS is affected by an event or state in
the past.

EXAMPLE 1: "I HAVE BEEN to the mountaintop."

EXPLANATION: The construction "have been" indicates that some "being" in the past extends a
consequence to the present moment. The modifying phrase "to the mountaintop" clarifies that this
consequence is due to an isolated event, not a continuous one. As the context of Dr. King's speech
makes clear, his "being to the mountaintop" has the consequence of making him more hopeful or
emboldened now.

EXAMPLE 2: "I HAVE BEEN here for over an hour."

EXPLANATION: The construction "have been" indicates that some "being" in the past extends a
consequence to the present moment. The modifying phrase "for over an hour" clarifies that this
consequence is due to a continual state: I was here over an hour ago, I'm still here, and I am affected
(probably frustrated) by that fact.

EXAMPLE 3: "I HAVE LOST my keys."

EXPLANATION: The construction "have lost" indicates that some "losing" in the past extends a
consequence to the present moment. In other words, the keys are still lost. Notice that this fact is
NOT implied by the simple past form, "I lost my keys," because while it would be reasonable to say
"I LOST my keys, but found them this morning," it would NOT be reasonable to say "I HAVE
LOST my keys, but found them this morning," because the latter makes contradictory claims,
namely, that now I don't have my keys, and I do have my keys.

EXAMPLE 4: "I HAVE LIVED in New York for ten years."

EXPLANATION: The construction "have lived" indicates that some "living" in the past extends a
consequence to the present moment. The modifying phrase "for ten years" clarifies that the
consequence is due to a continual state: my "living in New York" continued from a point ten years
ago to the present moment. Notice, however, that this construction does NOT imply an ongoing
state THROUGH the present moment. I could utter this sentences, for instance, while boarding a
train in Grand Central Station for my new home in Connecticut, reflecting on how my city life has
affected me. In order to indicate an ongoing state (that is, that I am still living in New York), we
must apply the "progressive" (or "continuous") aspect form: "I HAVE BEEN LIVING in New York
for ten years."

EXAMPLE 5: "I HAVE EATEN."

EXPLANATION: The construction "have eaten" indicates that some "eating" in the past extends a
consequence to the present moment. No continuation is implied here, so the consequence is due to
an isolated event in the past: I ate, therefore I am now satisfied (consequence). Again, if we wish to
also indicate ongoing action, we can additionally apply the "continuous aspect form:" "I HAVE
BEEN EATING.")

PAST PERFECT
Verbs in the "past perfect" indicate that some PAST STATUS is affected by an event or state even
further in the past.

EXAMPLE 1: "By the time we arrived at the party, the band HAD already BEGUN playing."

EXPLANATION: The construction "had begun" indicates that some "beginning" extends a
consequence to some point in the past. This point is specified as "the time we arrived at the party,"
so it indicates that our arrival was affected by the fact that the band had begun playing (perhaps we
would now have to talk louder than normal, perhaps we missed the opening song, perhaps we could
now enjoy some dancing, etc.).

EXAMPLE 2: "John was upset because his application HAD BEEN TURNED DOWN."

EXPLANATION: The construction "had been turned down" indicates that an episode of "being
turned down" extends a consequence to some point in the past. That point is specified as the time
when John "was upset." The conjunction "because" clarifies that this consequence is the effect of a
precise cause.

EXAMPLE 3: "We HAD WALKED for two days straight without rest."
EXPLANATION: The construction "had walked" indicates that some episode of "walking" extends
a consequence to a point in the past. Here, that point is not specified, perhaps because the author
wishes to maintain some mystery about that point in time. The modifying phrase "for two days
straight" clarifies that the consequence is due to a continual action: our walking continued for a
period of at least two days to some point in the past, and this "walking" affected our status at that
point (presumably, it made us pretty tired). Notice, again, that this construction does NOT indicate
ongoing action THROUGH that unspecified point in the past. To indicate ongoing action, we must
additionally apply the "progressive aspect form:" "We HAD BEEN WALKING for two days
straight without rest."

FUTURE PERFECT
Verbs in the "future perfect" indicate that some FUTURE STATUS is affected by an event or state
prior to that point in the future.

EXAMPLE: "By next Tuesday, we WILL HAVE DEPARTED for London."

EXPLANATION: The construction "will have departed" indicates that some episode of "departing"
extends a consequence to a point in the future. That point is specified as "next Tuesday." The
prepositional phrase "by next Tuesday" indicates that the consequence is due to an isolated event,
not a continual one.

Christopher F. Black
Author
"Conquering the SAT Writing"
Co-Author
"McGraw-Hill's SAT"
"McGraw-Hill's PSAT"