🧠 Mastering Perfect Structures in English
(C1 Level)
✅ What Are Perfect Structures?
Perfect structures in English are verb forms that express actions completed at a
certain point in time (past, present, or future), or connected to a time reference.
They are made using the auxiliary verb "have" (or "had" / "will have") + past
participle of the main verb.
There are three main perfect tenses:
● Present Perfect
● Past Perfect
● Future Perfect
1. 🔷 Present Perfect (have/has + past participle)
🔹 Use:
● Actions that started in the past and are still relevant now.
● Unspecified time in the past.
● Life experience, changes, or achievements.
🔹 Examples:
● I have visited Japan twice.
● She has just finished her homework.
● We have lived in this city for 10 years.
● Have you ever tried sushi?
🔹 Signal Words:
● already, just, yet, ever, never, so far, recently, for, since
2. 🔷 Past Perfect (had + past participle)
🔹 Use:
● To show that one action happened before another action or time in the
past.
● Often used in narratives, stories, or to provide background information.
🔹 Examples:
● I had left the house before it started raining.
● She had already eaten when he arrived.
● They had finished the exam by 3 PM.
🔹 Time Expressions:
● by the time, before, after, already, when
3. 🔷 Future Perfect (will have + past participle)
🔹 Use:
● To describe an action that will be completed by a certain point in the
future.
🔹 Examples:
● By 2030, scientists will have discovered a cure for many diseases.
● I will have finished the project by next Monday.
● Will you have completed the course by then?
🔹 Time Expressions:
● by + future time (by next week, by 6 PM), before, in two years, within
4. 🔷 Perfect Continuous Tenses (Advanced Use)
These combine the perfect and continuous aspects. They show duration of an
activity that was, is, or will be happening up to a certain point.
🔸 Present Perfect Continuous (have/has been + -ing):
● I have been studying English for 3 hours.
🔸 Past Perfect Continuous (had been + -ing):
● She had been working there for 5 years before quitting.
🔸 Future Perfect Continuous (will have been + -ing):
● By December, I will have been living in Rome for a year.
🧪 Common Mistakes
❌ I have gone to Paris last year.
✅ I went to Paris last year. (specific time → simple past)
❌ He had gone when I arrive.
✅ He had gone when I arrived. (sequence of past events)
❌ I will have finish the report.
✅ I will have finished the report. (use past participle: finished)
🧩 Expanded Exercises on Perfect Structures (C1
Level)
1. Choose the correct form (Present Perfect / Future Perfect / Past Perfect):
Choose the best option to complete each sentence.
a) By next summer, I (will finish / will have finished / finished) my degree.
b) She (has completed / completed / will have completed) three books this year.
c) We (had left / left / have left) before the guests arrived.
d) They (have already eaten / ate / eat) when we got there.
e) By the time he turns 40, he (has traveled / will have traveled / had traveled)
to over 50 countries.
f) You (have never seen / never saw / had never seen) this movie before, right?
g) I (had studied / studied / have studied) English for years before moving to
Canada.
h) She (will have learned / learns / has been learning) Spanish fluently by the
end of her exchange program.
i) We (had already heard / already hear / have already heard) that story.
j) They (will finish / will have been finishing / will have finished) their exams
by tomorrow morning.
2. Rewrite using Past Perfect:
Rewrite each sentence by using the past perfect to indicate what happened first.
a) I ate dinner. Then my friend arrived.
→
b) She left the house. Five minutes later, the phone rang.
→
c) They finished the report. Then they emailed it.
→
d) The train departed. Then we got to the station.
→
e) He closed the shop. After that, the police came.
→
f) She fell asleep. Then the guests arrived.
→
g) I saw the results. Then I called my teacher.
→
h) We packed our things. Then we checked out.
→
i) I read the book. Then I watched the movie.
→
j) He cleaned the room. Then his mother arrived.
→
3. Complete the sentence using the correct perfect form:
Fill in the blank with the correct perfect tense and past participle.
a) She _______ (already / leave) when we got to the station.
b) By the end of this month, I _______ (complete) five online courses.
c) We _______ (never / see) such a breathtaking view before.
d) They _______ (not / finish) the project by the time the client arrived.
e) He _______ (just / return) from the gym when I saw him.
f) You _______ (read) the report by tomorrow, right?
g) She _______ (live) in Paris for three years before moving to London.
h) We _______ (never / try) Ethiopian food before that night.
i) I _______ (write) this email three times already!
j) He _______ (not / be) to Canada until last year.
4. Choose the correct tense (Simple Past, Present Perfect, Past Perfect):
Pick the correct option to complete each sentence.
a) We _______ (live) here since 2015.
b) He _______ (visit) Rome in 2010.
c) They _______ (work) all day before they finally took a break.
d) I _______ (never / try) skydiving.
e) By the time I arrived, she _______ (already / leave).
f) I _______ (know) her since we were kids.
g) She _______ (graduate) in 2019.
h) They _______ (forget) their passports at home.
i) You _______ (see) that movie already, haven’t you?
j) We _______ (not / finish) our homework yet.
5. Make a question in Present Perfect:
Use the prompts to create grammatically correct questions in the present
perfect.
a) You / ever / try / windsurfing?
→
b) He / already / finish / the book?
→
c) They / visit / that museum / before?
→
d) How many times / you / travel / abroad?
→
e) What / she / do / since morning?
→
f) Why / they / never / respond / to your emails?
→
g) You / ever / be / to Iceland?
→
h) Who / you / speak / with / today?
→
i) Where / he / go?
→
j) How long / you / know / them?
6. Rewrite in Future Perfect:
Rewrite the sentence in the future perfect tense.
a) She submits the application next Friday.
→
b) We complete the task before 5 PM.
→
c) They finish the project by tomorrow.
→
d) He leaves by the time you arrive.
→
e) I pass all my exams by next month.
→
f) You finish your coffee before the train leaves.
→
g) They build the house by 2026.
→
h) She learn enough to speak fluently by the end of the course.
→
i) I write ten poems before summer.
→
j) We walk 100 kilometers by Sunday.
7. Fill the gap using Past Perfect Continuous:
Use the past perfect continuous to show ongoing action before something in the
past.
a) Before he got the job, he _______ (apply) to over 20 companies.
b) She _______ (wait) for over an hour before the doctor arrived.
c) We _______ (argue) all day when we decided to take a break.
d) They _______ (travel) for weeks when their car finally broke down.
e) I _______ (not / sleep) well before I changed my mattress.
f) He _______ (study) for the exam for three days before taking it.
g) The kids _______ (play) outside when it started raining.
h) I _______ (look) for my keys for 30 minutes before I found them.
i) We _______ (talk) about moving abroad before we actually did it.
j) She _______ (practice) the song for weeks before the performance.
8. Error correction:
Find and correct the error in each sentence.
a) They has been to Italy three times.
→
b) She had saw the film before I told her about it.
→
c) I have finish the report yesterday.
→
d) We will has completed the task by tomorrow.
→
e) He have been working here since 2020.
→
f) I had went to the store before it closed.
→
g) She has wrote a new novel.
→
h) They had been waited for two hours.
→
i) I have knew her for years.
→
j) You has never tried that dish, have you?
9. Complete with Future Perfect:
Use the future perfect to complete each sentence.
a) By the end of this year, we _______ (save) enough money.
b) He _______ (complete) his training by Monday.
c) They _______ (build) the bridge by 2026.
d) I _______ (write) my first novel before turning 30.
e) We _______ (move) into our new home by next weekend.
f) She _______ (submit) her thesis before the deadline.
g) The team _______ (win) the championship if they succeed today.
h) You _______ (spend) all your budget before the end of the month.
i) He _______ (finish) reading the book by tonight.
j) The guests _______ (arrive) by 7 PM.
10. Fill with Present Perfect Continuous:
Use the present perfect continuous to emphasize ongoing action that started in
the past and still continues.
a) I _______ (study) all morning.
b) She _______ (work) at that company for years.
c) They _______ (argue) a lot lately.
d) He _______ (wait) for you since noon.
e) We _______ (look) for a new apartment since January.
f) You _______ (train) hard for this competition.
g) The dog _______ (bark) non-stop for an hour!
h) I _______ (try) to reach you all day.
i) She _______ (paint) the kitchen all afternoon.
j) They _______ (fix) the internet connection since this morning.
