Question

What tense characterizes the perfect participle? Is it past, present, or future?

Answer 1

past

Explanation:

the perfect participle, 'having __ed', relates to something that has already been done.

Having walked down the stairs, the cat went to the garden to play.

sequence of events:

• cat walks down stairs
• cat goes to garden

the cat walks down the stairs before going into the garden.

the first action comes before the second.

this means that the first action is finished before the second one starts.

the perfect participle 'having __ed' therefore refers to the complete action, which is walking.

since the perfect participle refers to a complete action, it is characterised by the past tense.