Perfect tenses show when an action happened in relation to another action.

Present perfect: describes an action that started in the past and is still continuing or has ended by the present. It can also be used to talk about past actions that happened multiple times. To form the present perfect, use the present tense of the verb to have plus the past participle of the main verb, for example:

• They have spoken for two hours.
• I have finished my homework already.

Past perfect: describes an action that started in the past and was complete when another action started; includes ‘had’ and the past participle, for example:

• They had spoken before they made a decision.
• I was watching TV because I had finished my homework.

Future perfect: An action in the future perfect tense will be finished by a particular time in the future. To form this tense, use this formula: will + have + past participle, for example:

• They will have spoken by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
• By 8 p.m., I will have finished my homework.