Present Perfect vs Past Perfect

In this video, we’ll break down the differences between the Present Perfect and Past Perfect tenses, making it simple for you to understand and use them correctly. We’ll explore the structure, uses, and key differences between these tenses, with plenty of examples to help you master them. Whether you’re learning English for the first time or just need a refresher, this video will provide you with all the tools you need. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with our latest lessons!

Grammar

Practice how to differentiate Present Perfect vs Past Perfect.

Transcript

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Introduction:

• Host: Hello and welcome to the English Magnet. Today’s video: Present Perfect vs Past Perfect Made Easy! Ah the perfect tenses of the English language; an everyday recipe for headaches! In all seriousness,encountering perfect tenses, especially the present and past, is commonplace.  It’s important to understand the specific purposes of these tenses. We’ll briefly explore their structures and focus on their major distinctions and possible combinations. Alright, let’s get started!

Part 1: Present Perfect – structure

A brief overview, the present perfect is formed with 2 words; have or has and a past participle (the 3rd form of verbs or V3). Example; I’ve cleaned, you haven’t kept, she’s thrown, has he not drunk?. Have or the contraction ‘ve is for I, you, we & they. Has or the contraction ‘s is for he, she & it. The V3 form is tricky as some are regular ending in -ed, some are irregular but look like the past simple and some are one-of-a-kind and you have to memorize them (throw, threw, thrown – drink, drank, drunk) (thrown and drunk are highlighted). The negative form is represented by ‘not’ or its contraction haven’t or hasn’t. For further insight on the present perfect, click the link. 

Part 2: Past Perfect – structure

Second brief overview, this one will even be briefer, is about the past perfect. Its structure resembles the present perfect but with a key distinction. So, 2 words had and a past participle. Example: I’d cleaned, you hadn’t kept, she’d thrown, had he not drunk?. So the second word is the same as in the present perfect, no need to dwell on that. The first word, the auxiliary is where the distinction lies with the present perfect. We neither use ‘have’ nor ‘has’, only ‘had’ and its contraction ‘d for all subjects. The negative particle ‘not’ goes between the 2 words or forms the contraction ‘ hadn’t’. Here’s a link for more on the past perfect. 

Part 3: Key differences

Being both perfect tenses, they convey actions which are related to other actions or moments in time; basically perfect tenses aren’t usually found alone in a vacuum; they have meaning when put in context with other actions, events or points in time. Now, the present perfect focuses on actions and events with relevance to the present, while the past perfect focuses on actions and events with relevance to the past. Let’s see how their uses differ in meaning: 

1) Time Reference

Example: Sandy has seen the movie and recommended it! The present perfect is used to refer to the seeing of the movie as a recent past action but with a clear impact on the present; the speaker implies the movie is worth watching now. 

Sandy had seen the movie before we met at the club. The past perfect is used to refer to the seeing of the movie as a past action happening before another past action; that being the meeting at the club. 

The seeing of the movie is the same action but its time reference changes with different tenses. The present perfect uses it to connect it to the present; seeing this movie might be worth it since Sandy saw it and recommended it. The past perfect uses it to connect it to another past action happening after; seeing the movie happened first and meeting happened next, all in the past. 

2) Repeated Actions

Example: My partner has called our suppliers several times this week but to no avail. The present perfect is used to refer to past actions taking place in the past but with a current effect. The relation with the present is clear with the time reference ‘this week’ and it’s understood that the partner will keep calling later since no contact has been established. These past actions, the repeated calling, are relevant to now! 

My partner had called our suppliers several times before he eventually got them on the phone. The past perfect is used to refer to the same set of actions as actions taking place in the past before another action; the repeated calling obviously took place prior to getting the suppliers on the phone. All happened in the past with no relevance to the present.

3) have had vs had had 

These forms might look odd or even incorrect but they are proper present perfect of have ‘have had’ and past perfect of have ‘had had’. Yes, in these cases ‘have’ is the auxiliary of itself! The second one is always ‘had’ since that’s the past participle or V3 form of the verb ‘have’. Then, when using the present perfect your auxiliary is in the present so ‘have’ or ‘has’. When using the past perfect your auxiliary is in the past so ‘had’. That’s it! 

Example: I’ve had enough of the dog’s barking. – The use of the present perfect shows that the anger and frustration is current and present. The problem is ongoing! Yikes! We can add context: I’ve had enough of the dog’s barking. I can’t take it anymore!

I’d had enough of the dog’s barking. – The use of the past perfect shows that the anger and frustration happened in the past before another past action. There’s no connection to the present so we can assume the issue has been resolved. Again, let’s add some context: I’d had enough of the dog’s barking so I talked to my neighbor. By now, the dog’s no longer an issue. 

Quick sidenote: ‘have have’ is incorrect, that one is a mistake if you ever see it! 

Part 4: Combining 

The present perfect and past perfect tenses can be used together to express two actions in the past, one happening first and a second one with an impact on the present. It’s a great way to present a layered timeline and a clear transition from past to present when reporting events. Here’s how they can be combined in complex sentences: 

Example: She had learned to code before she started her new gig at the tech company, and since then, she has successfully applied her coding skills on several major projects. The past perfect expresses a past action happening before a point in the past (the start of her new job) while the present perfect expresses a recent past action which has an incidence or impact on the present (her current valuable contribution at work). 

I had completed my master’s degree without submitting any scientific papers, but during my PhD studies, I have published several research papers. Again, the past perfect is used to introduce a past action happening first and before a certain moment in the past (a master’s degree happens before PhD studies). Meanwhile, the present perfect is used to talk about a repeated action having relevance to the present moment (the publications are launching my career). 

Wrap up
Host: There you go! Use both tenses regularly in your speech and notice how it enhances your ability to express yourself! By the way, a link to some free material to practice by yourselves can be found in the description below. Hopefully, this has been helpful. Keep practicing, and you’ll get the hang of it. Thank you for watching. Until next time!