0

Possible Duplicate:
How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?

I have a difficult time to understand perfect tense.

I don't see the different for the following two sentences.

1) He kicked the ball.

2) He had kicked the ball.

Is perfect tense used to tell is an action completed or not?

Community
  • 1
user1187968
  • 331

1 Answers1

0

The first uses the past tense. This typically describes an event that occurred at a particular time in the past and is complete at the time of speaking.

The second uses the past perfect construction. This normally describes a past event that occurred before another.

The present perfect construction would be He has kicked the ball. This is often used to describe a past event that has current relevance.

Barrie England
  • 140,205
  • 1
    So when we should use perfect tense? Is there any general guideline to use perfect tense correctly? – user1187968 Nov 19 '12 at 21:57
  • 1
    This is too big a topic to discuss here in any detail. You may like to consult a qualified English teacher or a grammar book for foreign learners of English. – Barrie England Nov 19 '12 at 22:00