HAVE, HAS, HAD
We often wish to express an action as having been finished or completed in the present, past,
or future. For example, instead of saying, "She is writing a letter," we may wish to denote that
the writing is now finished.
There! I have written my assignment.
Yesterday, when school ended, I had written two sentences.
Tomorrow, when school begins, I will have written a story.
completed in the present
completed in the past
completed in the future
To express an action as having been completed in the past, present, or future, we use a verb
phrase consisting of a form of the verb have and a past participle.
• The form of a verb that denotes action completed in the present is called the present
perfect tense.
• The form of a verb that denotes action completed in the past is called the past perfect
tense.
• The form of a verb that denotes action completed in the future is called the future perfect
tense.
• The past perfect tense, the present perfect tense, and the future perfect tense always
reference an event that occurs relative to some other time.
WE CONJUGATE THE TENSES OF VERBS AS FOLLOWS:
TENSES OF THE VERB "is"
Present Tense:
Past Tense:
Future Tense:
I am
I was
I will be
Present Perfect Tense:
Past Perfect Tense:
Future Perfect Tense:
I have been
I had been
I will have been
On the following page, you can find more conjugation of the verb is.
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Past Tense
Present Tense
I will be
I was
I am
You will be
You were
You are
He will be
She will be
It will be
He was
She was
It was
He is
She is
It is
We have been
We will be
We were
We are
You have been
You will be
You were
You are
They have been
They will be
They were
They are
Future Tense
He has been
She has been
It has been
I will have been
I had been
You will have been
You had been
He will have been
She will have been
It will have been
He had been
She had been
It had been
We will have been
We had been
You will have been
You had been
They will have been
They had been
I have been
You have been
Present Perfect
Tense
Past Perfect
Tense
Future Perfect
Tense
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TENSES OF THE VERB "WRITE"
Present Tense:
Past Tense:
Future Tense:
I write
I wrote
I will write
Present Perfect Tense:
Past Perfect Tense:
Future Perfect Tense:
I have written
I had written
I will have written
EXERCISE 32: Conjugate the tenses of the following verbs: call, run, sleep, and play.
TENSES OF THE VERB "call"
Present Tense:
I _______________________
Past Tense:
I _______________________
Future Tense:
I _______________________
Present Perfect Tense:
I have _______________________
Past Perfect Tense:
I had _______________________
Future Perfect Tense:
I will have _______________________
TENSES OF THE VERB "run"
Present Tense:
I _______________________
Past Tense:
I _______________________
Future Tense:
I _______________________
Present Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
Past Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
Future Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
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TENSES OF THE VERB "sleep"
Present Tense:
I _______________________
Past Tense:
I _______________________
Future Tense:
I _______________________
Present Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
Past Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
Future Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
TENSES OF THE VERB "play"
Present Tense:
I _______________________
Past Tense:
I _______________________
Future Tense:
I _______________________
Present Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
Past Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
Future Perfect Tense:
I _______________________
Exercise 33: Underline the verbs in the following sentences. On the lines provided, write the
tense of each verb phrase.
1. Katharine has just read that book.
_______________________
2. John will have finished it in an hour.
_______________________
3. He had nearly finished it before supper time.
_______________________
4. Where have you been all these years?
_______________________
5. I hope you will call often, now that you have returned. _______________________
_______________________
6. Many inventors had attempted flying machines before the Wrights built their successful
airplane.
_______________________
_______________________
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7. I have seen him often today, and I will see him soon again.
_______________________
_______________________
8. I shall not go, for my father has refused permission.
_______________________
_______________________
9. I hope she will have a pleasant visit.
_______________________
_______________________
 IMITATING STYLE: The speech on the following page is the Gettysburg Address
delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the cemetery at
Gettysburg, the site of a Civil War battle. The speech is divided into three parts. Part 1
references the past. Part 2 discusses the present. Part 3 addresses the future. Study the
model paragraphs. When you are ready, complete one (or more) of the writing options
below.
Option 1: Copy the two smaller paragraphs or the one larger paragraph.
Option 2: Write the two smaller paragraphs or the one larger paragraph from dictation.
(Study the spelling and punctuation carefully.)
Option 3: Rewrite the paragraphs from memory, imitating the author’s style.
Option 4: Write your own speech similar to the model that follows. You may write about
remembering or honoring a pet or a person. If you have a favorite book series, you may
write about coming to the end of the series.
Notice: Part I uses mostly past tense verbs. (Are created is a present tense verb phrase
written in the passive voice. You will learn more about passive verbs in a future lesson.)
Part II begins with more passive present tense verbs (are engaged), then transitions to the
present perfect tense. (We have come…)
Part III begins with present tense verbs then transitions to the present perfect tense (have
consecrated) and finishes with the future perfect tense (shall not have died). When writing
your own speech, use the past tense in your first paragraph; use the present perfect tense
in your second paragraph, and use the future perfect in your final paragraph. See the
underlined words in the model for examples.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new
nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so
conceived and dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We
have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave
their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not
hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated
it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that
from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the
last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died
in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
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