3.4: Simple versus Perfect Tenses

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Don Bissonnette
South Seattle Community College

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Simple Tenses versus Perfect Tenses

The simple tenses in English (present, present continuous, past, past continuous, future, future continuous, modal and continuous verbs) are called “simple” because their action is locked into one time zone only. There is no movement between the present, the past, and the future. In other words, they look like the diagram below:

______________________
l present tense                 l      Both of these are locked into the present time.
l                                     l
l XXX   X XX XX X XXX     l      We go to school every day.
l                                l      I sleep at night.
l present continuous tense l
l                                  l      My sons are going to school now.
l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l      The baby is sleeping now.
l______________________l

____________________
l past tense l      Both of these are locked into the past time.
l       l
l XXX   X XX XX XXXX l      We walked to the market last night.
l                                 l      The boy forgot to do his homework last night.
l past continuous tense  l
l                              l      They were driving to the market when the accident
l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l      happened.
l___________________ l       She was sleeping when the phone rang.

_____________________
l future tense                l      Both of these are locked into the future time.
l                                  l
l XXX   X XX XX XXXX l      We will be here at 8:AM tomorrow.
l                           l      She will make dinner tonight.
l future continuous tense l
l                                  l      They will be leaving at 11:00 Am tomorrow morning.
l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l      I will be sleeping tonight at 4:00 AM.
l____________________ l

The simple tenses are stuck in one time zone only. They cannot show a movement between time zones.

The perfect tenses (present perfect, present perfect continuous, the past perfect, the past perfect continuous, the future perfect, and the future perfect continuous), on the other hand, move between time zones. The present perfect begins in the past time, moves to the present time, and can continue into the future time. The present perfect can also be used with the indefinite past time. What that means is that an action took place in the past, but the speaker or writer does not say when in the past it happened. The past perfect moves from the past further into the past for two actions that happened at different times in the past. The future perfect moves from a future action to another future action at different times in the future.

Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuous Tenses

Past Present Future

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I have been a father for 26 years.
My son has lived in Japan for two years.

I have been typing this diagram for thirty minutes.
The sun has been shining since 6:00 AM this morning.

Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Continuous Tenses

Past Past Present Future

XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX

I had graduated from university when I went into the US Army.
My brother had driven a truck for many years when he fell and broke his back.

My son had been working on a piece of music for two hours when he stopped to take a break.
The men had been sleeping for six hours when the alarm clock woke them up.

Future Perfect and the Future Perfect Continuous Tenses

Past Present Future Future

XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX

My wife will have cooked dinner by the time I arrive home after work.
I will have been a teacher for 45 years by the time I retire.

My son will have been working for eight hours today before he can come home.
I will have been wearing my shirt for 11 hours by the time I get home today.