Grammar for everyone part 20

For example:
She had driven.
past tense past participle
This tense takes us another step back in time. The action was
completed before another one took place.
For example:
He had eaten it before I arrived.
auxiliary past participle past tense
past perfect tense (pluperfect)
The future perfect tense
Both auxiliaries ‘to have’ and ‘to be’ are used to form the future
perfect tense. This tense shows that an action will have been
completed at some time in the future.
For example:
They will have driven 200 km by the time they arrive.
auxiliaries past participle
A table of perfect tenses – active voice
Past perfect Present perfect Future perfect
Singular
Person
1st I had hidden I have hidden I shall have hidden
2nd You had hidden You have hidden You will have
hidden
3rd He/she/it had
hidden
He/she/it has
hidden
He/she/it will have
hidden
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A table of perfect tenses – active voice (continued)
Plural
Person
1st We had hidden We have hidden We shall have
hidden
2nd You had hidden You have hidden You will have
hidden
3rd They had hidden They have hidden They will have
hidden

A table of perfect tenses – passive voice
Past perfect Present perfect Future perfect
Singular
Person
1st I had been told I have been told I shall have been
told
2nd You had been
told
You have been
told
You will have
been told
3rd He/she/it had
been told
He/she/it has been
told
He/she/it will have
been told
Plural
Person

1st We had been told We have been
told
We shall have
been told
2nd You had been
told
You have been
told
You will have
been told
3rd They had been
told
They have been
told
They will have
been told
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18.1 Activities: perfect tenses
1. Students take turns to mime an action and the others guess or write
down what the action is. The answers will be present participles,
such as laughing, cooking etc. Students should think up their own
actions.
2. Students complete a tense table with the verb ‘to forget’ in the
active voice.
Past perfect Present perfect Future perfect
Singular
Person
1st

2nd You had
3rd He/she it has
Plural
Person
1st
2nd
3rd We shall have
3. Students complete a tense table with the verb ‘to rescue’ in the
passive voice.
Past perfect Present perfect Future perfect
Singular
Person
1st
2nd You will have been rescued
3rd He/she it
Plural
Person
1st
2nd
3rd They
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4. Students are given the list of verbs on the left, and fill in a table
showing the past tense and past participle of each.
verb Past tense Past participle
a. sweep swept swept
b. take took taken
c. bring brought brought
d. tread trod trodden

e. be was been
f. write wrote written
g. leave left left
h. sting stung stung
i. ring rang rung
j. go went gone
5. Students answer the following questions by adding three tasks that
they/others have done.
a. What have you done so far today?
1. I have . . . . . . . . . .
2. . . . . . . . . . .
3. . . . . . . . . . .
b. What has your brother/sister done today?
1. She . . . . . . . . . .
2. . . . . . . . . . .
3. . . . . . . . . . .
6. Students match each verb to its tense:
a. I shall have eaten too much. Past perfect
b. He was telling a good joke. Future
c. See how they run. Future perfect
d. They will take us to the wedding. Past continuous
e. Maureen had bent her ruler. Present
a. Future perfect, b. Past continuous, c. Present, d. Future,

e. Past perfect

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Checklist: perfect tenses

Students should now be able to
• define the term ‘participle’
• state the present participle of any common verb
• state the past participle of most common verbs
• complete past, present and future tenses using present and past
participles together with auxiliaries
• change the tense in a sentence to another tense, from those already
learnt
• recognise the tense used in a given sentence
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