I have written him an email
I had written him an email
What’s the difference between the above two sentences?
Without extra information, its not always easy to tell, but the 1st is in the Present Perfect and the 2nd is in the Past Perfect tense.
What extra meaning do these tenses imply?
The Present Perfect has consequences in the present e.g. I have written him an email and I’m sure he will respond soon.
The Past Perfect draws attention to the order of past events e.g. I had written him an email but as he hadn’t responded, I decided to call.
The Present Perfect is formed using “have/has” along with the past participle of the main verb
The Past Perfect is formed using “had” along with the past participle of the main verb
|
Consequence (stated or implied) |
Order (may be contextual) |
Tense |
I have sent the invitations |
I await responses |
|
Present Perfect |
The band had already left |
|
Eg by the time we arrived |
Past Perfect |
Where have you been all my life? |
I’m so happy to have found you |
|
Present Perfect |
Not one person was left alive. What had happened? |
|
Something happened before they died. |
Past Perfect |
I haven’t spoken to him for years. |
Perhaps a sense of loss |
|
Present Perfect |
I hadn’t seen that coming. |
|
Something bad happened that you weren’t able to predict |
Past Perfect |
In the above examples “have ” is used as the auxiliary verb (it creates the tense), but sometimes “have ” is also the main verb – now it can appear confusing
I have a headache. (present tense)
I had a headache (past tense)
I have had a headache all day. (present perfect tense with “have” being the auxiliary and main verb)
Likely context: I have had a headache all day. How can you expect me to have got through my workload?
I had had a headache all day. (past perfect tense with “have” being the auxiliary and main verb)
Likely context: I had had a headache all day. To make it even worse they started having a party upstairs.
Nine celebrities who have had weight loss surgery – and now look great J (present perfect)
Nine deceased celebrities who had had weight loss surgery L (past perfect)