In Latin and traditional English grammar, verbs capture time by categories called tenses: Present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. These six tenses cover the temporal components of language. The three tenses called “perfect” might seem a bit strange, but they are integral to our way of thinking of actions and states of being in a temporal way. Perfect means “complete” or “completed.”
Unlike the simple past as captured by “I baked a cake,” the perfect forms require an auxiliary, or helping, verb, such as have, has, or had, or will (informal) or shall (formal). The perfect tenses have varying degrees of past. The present perfect indicates something that was completed in an event that runs to the present: “I have baked a cake.” The past perfect indicates that the action is separated from the present by some duration: “I had baked the cake.” Then there’s the future perfect. Strange, isn’t it. Apparently an oxymoron this coupling of something that was completed with something that will happen! “By the time you get home, I shall (will) have baked a cake.”
We set many of our goals by the future perfect. “By the time I get through school, I shall (will) have….” “By the time I become CEO, I shall (will) have….” Why? One reason is that we need references for much of what we do. We relate things to orient ourselves. Another reason is that we have a certain confidence that we can predict the convergence of two events.
Now, what is your future perfect?
Unlike the simple past as captured by “I baked a cake,” the perfect forms require an auxiliary, or helping, verb, such as have, has, or had, or will (informal) or shall (formal). The perfect tenses have varying degrees of past. The present perfect indicates something that was completed in an event that runs to the present: “I have baked a cake.” The past perfect indicates that the action is separated from the present by some duration: “I had baked the cake.” Then there’s the future perfect. Strange, isn’t it. Apparently an oxymoron this coupling of something that was completed with something that will happen! “By the time you get home, I shall (will) have baked a cake.”
We set many of our goals by the future perfect. “By the time I get through school, I shall (will) have….” “By the time I become CEO, I shall (will) have….” Why? One reason is that we need references for much of what we do. We relate things to orient ourselves. Another reason is that we have a certain confidence that we can predict the convergence of two events.
Now, what is your future perfect?
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