Sitting in the library, with The Deluxe Transitive Vampire opened to the Tense section, I attempted understand when to use which tense by making a chart.
That didn’t help me much but these resources did: Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference, A Writer’s Reference with Writing about Literature, and EnglishPage.com.
I am going to post as I make senses of all tenses and my tensed brain will have some relief.
Simple Tenses
Present, past, future
Perfect Tenses
Expresses an action that was/will be completed at the time of another action
Present perfect
Action/event that began at sometime in the past and extended into the present
- I’ve worked there for 6 months.
- I’ve often gone to the park. (I’ve visited and may go again)
Past perfect
Action/event completed in the past BEFORE some other past action/event, used to show relationship between 2 or more past events
- Once I had gotten over the fight, I called to apologize.
Future perfect
Action/event that will be completed in the future before some other action/event
- At 4 o’clock, I will have practiced for 2 hours.
Progressive Tenses
Describes actions in progress
Present perfect progressive
- I have been working for the last hour. (from past until now)
- How have you been doing? (without duration, meaning time = recently, lately)
Past perfect progressive
Something started in past and continued up until another time in the past
- I had been working late that night.
- He had been partying before he came to the first class.
Future perfect progressive
Something has started and will end in a future time.
- I will have been working 40 years come next spring.