Perfect Tenses: Present, Past and Future Explained

I have packed my bag.

💡 A current result.

She has lost her key.

💡 The key is missing now in this context.

Have you visited this city?

💡 Experience up to now.

We have lived here for years.

💡 A situation continuing to now.

I have known her since school.

💡 A continuing state, not a finished action.

He hasn’t arrived yet.

💡 A relevant result has not occurred.

I lost the key yesterday.

💡 A finished past time uses past simple here.

The shop had closed before we arrived.

💡 This happened before the past time mentioned.

We had met before the course began.

💡 Earlier experience.

Had you eaten before the journey?

💡 A past-perfect question.

I hadn’t seen the message when she called.

💡 The earlier event had not occurred.

She had known him for years by then.

💡 A state lasting to a past point.

By six, I will have finished.

💡 Completion before a future deadline.

Will you have arrived by noon?

💡 A future-perfect question.

We won’t have finished by Friday.

💡 A future-perfect negative.

By July, I will have known her for ten years.

💡 A state extends to a future point.

I have had two calls today.

💡 A count up to now.

I had a call at nine today.

💡 A specifically located past event.

❌ I have saw the film.

✅ I have seen the film.

Perfect have needs a past participle.

❌ I have met her yesterday.

✅ I met her yesterday.

Yesterday sets an explicit finished past frame.

❌ She have packed her bag.

✅ She has packed her bag.

With she in the present perfect, use has + past participle.

1. B — seen

💡 Use seen after has. See, saw and seen are three forms of the same verb.

2. A — I visited the museum yesterday.

💡 Yesterday is a finished past time. Use visited here.

3. A — had

💡 Had left shows the leaving happened before my past arrival.

4. B — will

💡 Will have finished looks ahead to work completed by a future time.

5. B — I started knowing her five years ago and still know her.

💡 Have known can describe a state that continues now.