SAT Mc Graw Hill 2011

now future perfect future

time

will have completed Friday

Lesson 9: Tricky Tenses

544 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT

Example:

Wehave takenonly two tests this semester.

(The taking of the tests did not happen at one

specific time, but over an extended time in the

past.)

Thefuture perfect tenseshows that something

will have been completed before some time in

the future.

Example:

ByFriday,wewill have completedthe entire

project.

Participles must be “perfect,” too, when they

indicate an action completed before another

action.

Example:

Having walkedall night, we were desper-

ate to find rest at dawn.

(Thewalkingwascompletedby dawn, so

the participle is “past perfect.”)

“Timeless” Verbs

When you need to discuss a theory, an artistic

work, or a general nonhistorical fact, the verb

that describes it is “timeless” and should take

thepresent tenseby default.

Wrong: The ancient Greek philosopher Zeno be-

lieved that all motion was an illusion.

Right: The ancient Greek philosopher Zeno

believed that all motion is an illusion.

Thebelievingis in the past, since Zeno’s long

gone, but the theory is timeless.

Verb Tenses

Thetenseof a verb is what indicates its place and ex-
tent in time. There are two common situations in
which tenses can be tricky: those with “perfect” verbs
and those with “timeless” verbs.

“Perfect” Verbs

You use the perfect tenseswhenever you need to indi-
cate that some event is completedbefore some other
point in time. (Here, the word perfectmeanscomplete,
notflawless.) They are usually relativetenses, that is,
they show a particular relationship to another verb or
reference to time within the sentence. All perfect tenses
use the helping verb tohave, as in wehad walked,we
have walked, and wewill have walked.

Thepast perfect tenseshows that an event had

been completed before another point in the

past. You can think of it as the “past past” tense.

Example:

By the time wearrivedat the reception, Glen

hadalreadygiventhe toast.

When a sentence contains two past-tense

verbs, check whether one event was completed

before the other. If so, the earlier event should

be given the past perfect tense.

Thepresent perfect tense, unlike the other perfect

tenses, usually does not show completion, but

that an event either extends from the past to the

presentoroccurs at an extended or unspecified

time in the past. You can think of it as the “past

plus present” tense or the “unspecific past.”

Example:

She has been so nice to me.

(This means she was nice to meand also she

still is nice to me.It combines past and pre-

sent.)

past perfect past now

time

had given arrived