Considering that the past tense perfect integrates one of the many inflections that we attribute to verbs, let us deal with understanding about both forms that constitute it: the simple and the composite form. Therefore, we must be aware, above all, that it is not enough to memorize such inflections, as if it were something mechanized. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to understand the meaning printed in them, which is why differentiations are established between one time and another.
Starting from this principle, let us understand, therefore, the lines that demarcate the simple and composed forms.
The shape simple is characterized by expressing an action produced at a certain moment in the past. It is the form used to describe the past described in front of an observer/interlocutor. Let's see the following example:
delivered the orders and filled in the report.
already the form composed expresses the repetition of a verbal process or its continuity up to the present in which we speak. In terms of constitution, it is formed by the present tense of the auxiliary “to have” and the participle of the main verb. Let's look at the example in question:
I have studied in the last days and I have expanded quite my knowledge.
Thus, seeking to synthesize the knowledge acquired, let us return to the following notions:
The perfect past tense, now expressing an action completed in time, moves away from the present, unlike the compound perfect past tense, which, expressing a repeated or continuous fact, approaches it (present).
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By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Forms of the past perfect: simple and composite"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/formas-preterito-perfeito-simples-composta.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
