Perfect Tenses en Inglés: Present, Past y Future Perfect con Ejercicios Resueltos

Perfect Tenses

1. Present Perfect Simple (have + Past Participle)

Action that took place at an unspecified time in the past, but is connected to the present or continues until the present:

“I’ve lost my keys”

“I’ve listened to this song recently”

2. Present Perfect Continuous (have been + -ing)

Action that started in the past and still continues in the present or whose results are still apparent. It implies duration.

“I’m exhausted. I’ve been running all the morning”

“I’ve been looking for my keys” (and I still haven’t found them)

You can translate it as: “llevar + gerundio”

3. Future Perfect Simple (will have + Past Participle)

A completed action at a certain future time:

“In four months I will have arrived at NY”.

4. Past Perfect Simple (had + Past Participle)

A completed action which took place before another past action.

“They had already gone when I arrived”

5. Past Perfect Continuous (had been + -ing)

An action which continued up to another past action.

“I had been watching TV for four hours when he phoned me”

(llevaba viendo la tele….)

Perfect Tenses Exercises

Exercise 1: Choose the correct answer

1. Alexis has spoken / will have spoken Greek all her life. It’s her mother tongue.
2. Deck has corrected / had corrected 236 mistakes by the time he finished his trip.
3. Have you ever had / Will you have had a conversation in a foreign language?
4. We’re late. By the time we arrive, the lesson will have started / has started.
5. Wendy failed her French exam because she won’t have studied / hadn’t studied.
6. By the time you return from Italy, your accent had improved / will have improved.
7. Jose didn’t go to Tokyo until he has taken / had taken a course in Japanese.
8. I hope I hadn’t forgotten / won’t have forgotten my English by the end of the school holidays!

Exercise 2: Complete the dialogue

Complete the dialogue with the verbs below. Use the Present Perfect Simple, Past Perfect Simple or Future Perfect Simple:

Not finish – learn – leave – make – hire – hear

1. Why did they change the sign? They realized that they _______ a spelling mistake.
2. Can you hand in your project on Friday? No, I ____ writing it by then.
3. Everyone looks pleased! I wonder why. ____ they ____ some good news?
4. Why are you learning sign language? Because they ____ just ___ two deaf people at work.
5. When did Deck and Herson go to California? They went to California after they ____ Nevada.
6. What’s so special about your English course? We promise that by the end, you ___ 500 new words.

Exercise 3: Choose the correct answer

1. Dean knows Paris well. How long has he been living / had he been living here?
2. I have been looking / had been looking for a job for a month before I finally found one.
3. Everything was white because it has been snowing / had been snowing all night.
4. Why are you so late? I have been waiting / had been waiting for an hour!

Exercise 4: Complete the sentences with Continuous forms

Use the Present Perfect Continuous or the Past Perfect Continuous.

Work – not pay – download – talk – cry – hike

1. Dad looks tired. He _________ too hard lately.
2. The child’s eyes were red. He ___ for hours.
3. Please turn off the phone. You ________ since we ordered our coffee!
4. Our teacher was angry because we ____ attention.
5. After we ___ all morning, we finally reached the top of the mountain.
6. ______ you ____ films? Our hard drive is almost full!

Exercise 5: Complete the sentences with the verbs in brackets

Use the perfect tenses.

1. I _______ (always believe) that languages are important. Do you agree?
2. Our company is very well known. We ______ (publish) books since 1992.
3. Mrs Smith _____ (teach) English for thirty years before she retired.
4. The cake burnt because I ____ (leave) it in the oven for too long.
5. Stop! You _____ (eat) all the food by the time the party begins!
6. What’s that smell? ____ you ____ (smoke)?