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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Perfect tenses might seem intimidating, but they’re actually not so bad. [Guys working out in a gym]

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We should probably mention that when we're talking about perfect tenses, we're not talking

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about tenses that have no flaws, or never make mistakes, or have never fallen up the stairs. [Man falling up the stairs]

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Not that…we've ever done that…

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The perfect form deals with verbs that have been "perfected,"

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which is another word for "completed."

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So while it might not sound very easy to accomplish, it’s actually kind of a breeze. [Kite of perfection flying in the sky]

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There are three different tenses of the perfect form, and which one we use depends on when

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the verb's action was completed.

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Since an action can be completed in the past, the present, or the future, someone had the [Dino pointing to past, present and future]

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good sense to name these different tenses the past perfect, the present perfect,

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and the future perfect.

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Clever names, huh? So how does it all work? [Man driving a car with example on the bonnet]

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Well, buckle up, Shmoopers. It's time for an example.

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Our friend Ken has a lot of homework due tomorrow. No bueno for Ken, but pretty bueno for us.

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…sorry Ken. We really need a good example. [Ken doing homework]

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Anyway, different tenses of the perfect form can help describe different possibilities

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for what can happen with this whole "homework" situation.

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Maybe Ken finished all of the homework hours ago, and we want to make it clear that he's [Ken playing guitar hero]

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been done for a while. Since the action of doing homework was completed in the past,

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we can use the past perfect tense to say: "Ken had done his homework hours ago."

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On the other hand, maybe Ken's done with his homework, but we don't care how long it's been finished. [Clock ticking forward rapidly]

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All we care about is the fact that it's done. In that case, the action of doing homework

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is complete right now, aka in the present, and we can use the present perfect tense to [Ken riding a bicycle and falls off]

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say: "Ken has done his homework."

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On the other, other hand––we all have three hands, right? Not just us?––Ken [Shmoop worker with 3 arms]

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might not have done his homework at all, but he's set a goal for himself: he'll finish

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his homework before he goes to bed. In that case, the action of doing homework will be [Ken finishing his homework before bed]

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completed at some point in the future, so we can use the future perfect tense to say:

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"Ken will have done his homework by the time he's gone to bed."

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And we’re not even going to consider the possibility that Ken won’t do his homework. [Ken sleeping in bed]

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Because Ken is a good kid….right, Ken? And guess what? That's it! The perfect tenses

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are pretty easy, now that you have watched this video. [Person watching shmoop video]

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See what we did there?

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