What does it mean by "perfect" tense?

Question

Why is present/past perfect tense called perfect tense? I couldn't relate the meaning of "perfect" to the tense in grammar, can someone tell me how it got its name?

Thanks :)

Answer 1

最愛解答

Its from the Latin verb perficio (finish), the past participle of which is perfectus ('having been finished'). Thus the perfect tense represents an action that has been completed.

Answer 2

It refers to completed action (perfected) and used alone to the present perfect: I have seen

Answer 3

from the grammatically point of view, perfect refers to an ended action.

Answer 4

It's just used to differentiate between the more complicated tenses in English.

By "perfect" it means that it's simple, no complications.

Take for example the "past perfect (more like simple past)": I ate. <---- less complicated, "simple", "perfect"

Now compare it to the "past perfect simple": I had eaten. <---- more complicated, not just "simple" or "perfect"