The Use of the Present Perfect of the Common Aspect to Express Actions Continued into the Present

1. The present perfect of the common aspect is also used to denote an action begun in the past and continued into the present (inclusive present perfect).

1. The starting point of the action is indicated by means of since or ever since, which may be an adverb, a preposition or a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause of time.

Ex.: “We’ve known each other since we were children.”(Braine)

But the present perfect is used with both verbs if they denote actions begun in the past and continued into the present.

Ex.: “How stuffy it is here! Haven’t you had a window open since I’ve been here?”(Onions)

2. The whole period of duration is often indicated by means of the preposition for.

Ex.: She has been with us for a fortnight.

2. The inclusive present perfect may also express repeated actions.

Ex.: For many and many a year these letters have made a pleasant incident in my life; more than that, they have often brought me help and comfort. (Gissing)

3. Sometimes the present perfect expresses an action which comes very close up to the present but is no longer going on at the present moment. This meaning also depends on the context.

Ex.: At last you have come: I have waited for you for about an hour.

The Past Perfect (Common Aspect)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I had written he had written we had written you had written they had written	I had not written he had not written we had not written you had not written they had not written	had I written? Had he written? had we written? had you written? Had they written?

The Use of the Past Perfect of the Common Aspect

1. The past perfect of the common aspect indicates an action which took place before a given past moment and is viewed back from that moment.

Ex.: When I came home the children had already returned from school.

2. Similar to the present perfect, the past perfect may express an action begun before a given past moment and continued into that past moment; this meaning depends on the context.

Ex.: She had been ill for two days when we learned about it.

The Use of the Past Perfect of the Common Aspect to Express an Action Accomplished before a given Past Moment

1. The past perfect expresses an action accomplished before a given past moment and viewed back from that moment.

Ex.: He looked at his watch. Five minutes had passed. (Mazo de la Roche)

2. The past perfect may be purely temporal past perfect, indicating merely that the action took place before a given past moment without connecting it in its results or consequences with that past moment.

Ex.: He told me that he had had his dinner at six o’clock on that day.

3. The past moment from which the accomplished action is viewed may be indicated:

a) By means of an adverbial expression: by four o’clock, by that time, by the end of the week.

Ex.: By the end of the week we had already done half of the work.

b) By another action

Ex.: The guests had arrived before the rain began to fall… (Henry)

4. The past tense is sometimes used instead of the past perfect in clauses introduced by before and after owing to the lexical meaning of these conjunctions

Ex.: After he left the house, he recollected that he had not locked the door.

Ex.: After I’d finished my shopping I went into Snow Park.

5. With the verbs which have terminative meaning such as to arrive, to enter, to look in, to open, etc. the past tense is used when two actions closely follow each other. The past perfect is used here only to stress the completion of an action.

Ex.: When I entered the room, I noticed that somebody was sitting at the table.

But also: I noticed that somebody was sitting at the table only when I had already entered the room.

The Use of the Inclusive Past Perfect of the Common Aspect to Express an Action Begun before a Given Past Moment and Continued into That Past Moment.

1. The past perfect of the common aspect is also used to denote an action begun before a given past moment and still going on at that past moment (inclusive past perfect). This meaning is shown by the context.

The starting point of the action is indicated by since; the whole period of duration is usually indicated by the preposition for.

Ex.: She told me that she had been ill since she came back from the seaside.

2. Sometimes the past perfect denotes an action coming very close up to a given past moment(exclusive past perfect); this is also shown by the context.

Ex.: I woke, and looked at my watch; it was five o’clock. I had been asleep four hours. (Galsworthy)

The Future Perfect(Common Aspect)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I shall have written he will have written we shall have written you will have written they will have written	I shall not have written he will not have written we shall not have written you will not have written they will not have written	shall I have written? will he have written? shall we have written? will you have written? will they have written?

The Use of the Future Perfect of the Common Aspect

1. The future perfect of the common aspect is used to express an action already completed at a given future moment and viewed back from that future moment.

Ex.: By six o’clock I shall have finished my translation.

2. The future perfect may be purely temporal or may show that the action already accomplished at the given future moment is connected in its results or consequences with that future moment.

Ex.: When you have finished this book, you will have learnt many new words and expressions.

3. The future moment from which the completed action is viewed may be indicated.

a) by means of an adverbial expression: by that time, by the first of June, by seven o’clock.

Ex.: “Another twenty years and you’ll have forgotten all about it.”(M.Wilson)

b) by means of another action:

If you come at seven, I shall have done my work.

4. The future perfect is also used to denote an action begun before a given future moment and still going on at that future moment (inclusive future perfect). This meaning is shown by the context.

Ex.: By the 1^st of July we shall have been at the seaside for a fortnight.