Present Perfect vs Past Perfect

[Fauzibelajar]

Hi..
I'm Fauzi, it's the first time for me to send a post at this forum.
I want to know what is basicly difference between present perfect and past perfect.
when we say " I have eaten this morning " (present perfect). It's almost same meaning when we say " I had eaten this morning ".

I need your answer, and I say Thank you very much

[Take_It_Easy]

Hello Fauzi,

There are huge differences between the two tenses. I have eaten this morning= It could mean you are still eating or you just finished it not long ago.

When You say I had eaten this morning, the action has been finished, so you finished your breakfast.

But past perfect is commonly in usage, when for example you did something in the past for long time, such as I had played guitar for 12 years ( It suppossed to be finished, so you do not play guitar any more) I have played guitar for 12 years ( you started to play 12 years ago and you still play)

There is another usage for past perfect. For example: I had been for 3 months in Spain before finally I arrived to my homecountry. There was 2 acts at the same time but the firstone was longer and earlier than the secondone. For example I had cooked for 2 hours when my wife got home.

[Hieupt]

Hi,

Basically:
- Present perfect: expresses an action that is still going on or that stopped recently, but has an influence on the present.
Ex: I've read this book for 3 months === I started reading this book 3 months ago and I'm still reading it now! (not finished yet).

- Past perfect: expresses an action taking place before a certain time in the past.
Ex: When I came home, my wife had already prepared for your dinner === She cooked the dinner before I came home from work.

The common confusion about tenses I think between "simple past" and "past perfect", you might like to take a look at: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-pasper

Thanks,
Hieu.
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Thank you very much,
Hieu Phan.

P/s: Please just correct if I'm wrong somewhere!

[Fauzibelajar]

For who had answered my question, I do apreciate. your answer is very clear. It's helpul.
thank you very much.

[Alan]

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Hi Fauzibelajar,

I think it's important to make a clear distinction between the present perfect and past perfect tenses. Clearly they both describe completed actions as the word 'perfect' indicates. The present perfect suggests recent past (I have just finished my breakfast) and also an indefinite time in the past (I have read that book but I am not saying when this was).

The past perfect has no sense necessarily of something completed a long time ago. It is often used in contrast with another tense (past simple). This can be stated obviously with conjunctions such as 'before' and 'after' ( We left the house after we had eaten our breakfast). It can also be used where the idea of past simple is suggested but not always stated (I see he had washed the dishes - here the implication is that we assume this happened before we came into the kitchen.)

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple