The Perfect Tense

A verb in the perfect tense expresses a completed action, the result of which is important at the present moment. It may be used as an equivalent of the present perfect tense in English.

The perfect tense is formed by adding the verb 'to be' in the present form to the past participle. (Note: The table below shows only masculine forms.)

Person	Singular	Plural
First	میں آیا ھوں maiN aayaa huuN 'I have come'	ھم آئے ھیں ham aae haiN 'we have come'
Second	تو آیا ھے tuu aayaa hai 'you have come'	تم آئے ھو tum aae ho 'you have come'
Third	وہ آیا ھے vah aayaa hai 'he has come'	وہ آئے ھیں vah aae haiN 'they have come'

When the pronoun آپ aap is used as an honorific personal pronoun, it requires the plural form of the participle and the verb 'to be' in the third person plural.

The rules of agreement are similar to those described for the preterit tense, but in the perfect tense they are valid not only for the participle but also for the verb 'to be'. If the main verb is intransitive, both components of the perfect form agree with the subject. The participle agrees in number and gender, and the verb 'to be' agrees in number and person:

لڑکی بھاگی ھے

laRkii bhaagii hai

'the girl has run away'

کتے بھاگے ھیں

kutte bhaage haiN

'the dogs have run away'

If a participle functioning as a component of the perfect form is in the feminine plural, its final vowel is never nasalized.

عورتیں آئی ھیں

aurateN aaii haiN (not aiiN haiN)

'the women have come'

If the main verb is transitive, the subject takes the oblique form and is followed by the postposition نے ne. The verb 'to be' agrees with the object, which is in the direct case:

تم نے کام کیا ھے

tum ne kaam kiyaa hai

'you have (literally: thou hast) done the work'

لڑکے نے چٹھی لکھی ھے

laRke ne ciTThii likhii hai

'A boy has written a letter'

In negative sentences in the perfect tense, the negative particle نہیں nahiiN ahiiN is most often put before the participle.

لڑکے نے چٹھی نہیں لکھی ھے

laRke ne ciTThii nahiiN likhii hai

'A boy hasn't written a letter'.

In Urdu, there is one other form that expresses the perfect tense. It is formed from the stem of the main verb followed by the verb چکنا cuknaa cuknaa 'to end, to be finished' in the perfect tense. The participle always agrees with the subject of the sentence, and the postposition نے ne is never used:

میں بھاگ چکا ھوں

maiN bhaag cukaa huuN

'I have run away'

وہ بھاگ چکی ھے

vah bhaag cukii hai

'She has run away'

ھم کام کر چکے ھیں

ham kaam kar cuke haiN

'We have done the work'