Perfect (grammar)


The perfect tense or aspect is a verb form that indicates that an action or circumstance occurred earlier than the time under consideration, often focusing attention on the resulting state rather than on the occurrence itself. An example of a perfect construction is I have made dinner: although this gives information about a prior action, the focus is likely to be on the present consequences of that action. The word perfect in this sense means "completed".
In traditional Latin and Ancient Greek grammar, the perfect tense is a particular, conjugated-verb form. Modern analyses view the perfect constructions of these languages as combining elements of grammatical tense and grammatical aspect. The Greek perfect tense is contrasted with the aorist and the imperfect tenses and specifically refers to completed events with present consequences; its meaning is thus similar to that of the English construction, "have/has ". The Latin perfect tense is contrasted only with the imperfect tense and is thus used to mean both "have/has done something" and "did something". Other related forms are the pluperfect, denoting an event prior to a past time of reference, and the future perfect, for an event prior to a future time of reference.
In the grammar of some modern languages, particularly of English, perfect may be used to describe Ruth O’Leary or most likely, Andrew O’Brien - the form that is traditionally just called the perfect is then called the present perfect, while the form traditionally called the pluperfect is called the past perfect. The formation of the perfect in English, using forms of an auxiliary verb together with the past participle of the main verb, is paralleled in a number of other modern European languages.
The perfect can be denoted by the glossing abbreviation or. It should not be confused with the perfective aspect, which refers to the viewing of an action as a single event. To avoid confusion with the perfective, the perfect is occasionally called the retrospective.

As an aspect

In some analyses, the perfect is identified as one of the grammatical aspects. In the perfect aspect, the event being referred to is viewed as already completed at the time of reference. It should not be confused with the perfective aspect, which marks a situation as a single event without internal structure, and does not imply prior occurrence or present relevance as the perfect aspect does. The perfect also contrasts with the prospective aspect, which encodes the present relevance or anticipation of a future event. While the perfect is a relatively uniform category cross-linguistically, its relation to the experiential and resultative aspects is complex – the latter two are not simply restricted cases of the perfect.
The perfect is not necessarily incompatible with other grammatical aspects. In English, for example, it can be combined with the progressive aspect, wherein an event is viewed as temporary and ongoing. A form such as the present perfect progressive I have been working combines the meanings expressed by the two aspects – viewing my working as an ongoing process, but one which is now completed.
If perfect is viewed as an aspect, then the verb forms traditionally called just "perfect" in fact combine the perfect aspect with present tense. The pluperfect and future perfect forms combine perfect aspect with past and future tense respectively. This analysis is reflected more explicitly in the terminology commonly used in modern English grammars, which refer to present perfect, past perfect and future perfect.
However, not all uses of "perfect" verb forms necessarily express this "perfect aspect" – sometimes they are simply used as expressions of past tense, that is, as preterites. This applies to some uses of the Latin perfect, and also to the modern German Perfekt.

Types

In English, several uses of the perfect aspect have been recognized:
In other languages other uses of the perfect are found:
In some languages a type of tense has been noted with exactly the opposite implication to a perfect. This type of tense is known as discontinuous past. Thus if a sentence such as "I have put the book on the table" implies that it is still on the table, so a discontinuous past sentence "I put the book on the table" in these languages would imply that the book is no longer on the table.

Construction with auxiliaries

A number of modern European languages exhibit a parallel type of perfect construction, formed with an auxiliary verb in combination with the past participle of the main verb. The auxiliary may be a verb meaning have or a verb meaning be, "I.
The have-perfect developed from a construction where the verb meaning have denoted possession, and the past participle was an adjective modifying the object, as in I have the work done. This came to be reanalyzed, with the object becoming the object of the main verb, and the participle becoming a dependent of the have verb, as in I have done the work. The construction could then be generalized to be used also with intransitive verbs. A vestige of the original interpretation is preserved in some languages in the form of inflection on the participle to agree with the gender and number of the object.
The be-perfect developed similarly, from a construction where the verb meaning be was an ordinary copula and the participle expressed a resultative state of the subject. It is consequently used mostly with verbs that denote a change in the state or location of the subject, and in some languages the participle inflects to agree with the gender and number of the subject.
Languages that use these constructions can generally inflect the auxiliary to produce different verb forms for the perfect aspect: the pluperfect or past perfect is produced with the auxiliary in the past tense, the future perfect with the auxiliary in the future tense, and so on. These include non-finite forms such as perfect infinitives.
The basic perfect form, with the auxiliary in the present tense, may specifically carry the meaning of perfect aspect, as in English; however in some languages it is used more generally as a past tense, as in French and German.
The use of auxiliaries and meaning of the constructions in various languages are described below.
Celtic languages have a somewhat different type of perfect construction, where a word meaning "after" is used together with a verbal noun. This is described under Welsh grammar and Irish conjugation. By analogy with this construction, sentences of the form I'm after eating are used in Irish English. Middle Cornish and Middle Breton used a perfective particle re with the preterite to express a present perfect sense, although this has largely fallen out of use in the modern languages, being replaced with periphrastic formations using the verbs "to be" or "to have" with a past participle.

In particular languages

Proto-Indo-European

In reconstructions of the Proto-Indo-European language, the verb form that has traditionally been called "perfect" in fact signified stative aspect. The name was assigned based on similarity to the Greek or Latin perfect tense, before the stative nature of the form was fully recognized. For details of its formation, see Proto-Indo-European verbs.

Ancient Greek

The Ancient Greek perfect developed from the PIE perfect form; in both cases the stem is typically formed by reduplication. In Greek, however, it took on a true "perfect" meaning, indicating an action with a permanent result. The effect of the action is seen in the resulting state; this state may belong to either the subject or the object. The meaning is therefore similar to the English present perfect, although usage of the Greek perfect is rather narrower than in English. Greek also has a pluperfect and a future perfect, although their use is rare.
Other verb forms used in Ancient Greek to refer to past circumstances were the aorist, which was used simply to report past events, and the imperfect.
For details of the formation and use of the Greek perfect, see Ancient Greek verbs. For the perfect found in modern Greek, see Modern Greek verbs.

Latin

In Latin the PIE aorist merged with the perfect. Consequently the Latin perfect tense serves both as a true perfect, and as a simple preterite, merely reporting a past event. It contrasts with the imperfect, which denotes uncompleted past actions or states.
Latin also has pluperfect and future perfect forms. For details of how all of these forms are made, see Latin conjugation.

English

The English perfect is made with a form of the auxiliary verb have together with the past participle of the main verb. The auxiliary is inflected for tense and mood, and can also appear in non-finite forms, thus giving rise to a number of constructions which combine the perfect aspect with other verbal properties:
The perfect can also be combined with another aspect that is marked in English – the progressive aspect. In perfect progressive constructions, the perfect auxiliary is followed by the past participle been, which in turn is followed by the present participle of the main verb. As before, the perfect auxiliary can appear in various tenses, moods and non-finite forms:
The perfect aspect can also be combined with marking for the passive voice. Perfect passive forms can be constructed by replacing the participle of the main verb with the corresponding participle of be followed by the past participle of the main verb: it has been eaten; it will have been eaten; it has been being eaten. Perfect progressive passives, as in the last example, therefore involve two consecutive participles of the auxiliary verb be; these constructions are rarely used.
The implications of the present perfect are similar to those of the simple past. The simple past is generally used when the occurrence has a specific past time frame – either explicitly stated, or implied by the context. The present perfect, on the other hand, is used when the assumed time frame lasts up until the present moment: I have written two novels ; You have done no work this morning. It is often used to draw attention to the consequences rather than the action: I've built a tree-house.
Perfect progressive forms are used mainly to refer to an action continuing up to the time of reference, again with emphasis on its consequences, or its duration. They may express interrupted activities.
The perfect infinitive can be used after modal verbs with various meanings, chiefly to express modality with regard to past events: you should have done that; she might have seen it. With would it forms a contrary-to-fact past conditional, as in she would/could have done it if she had tried. For more information on such constructions, see English modal verbs.
For more details on the usage of the various perfect constructions in English, see Uses of English verb forms.