Formation of Past Perfect Tense
The past
perfect tense, also known as the pluperfect, is made with the helping verb “had”
and past participle of the main verb. The formula of past perfect tense doesn’t
change with the subject if it is singular or plural.
Formula and Structure of Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Tense Positive Sentences
Structure: Subject + had + Past Participle
Examples
- I had seen him before.
- He had just got office when I saw?
- I had known her for two years.
- He had already eaten.
- They had already left when we reached their home.
- I had taught at the primary level for ten years before I got the promotion.
- When the President had finished his speech, the people clapped loudly.
Past Perfect Tense Negative Sentences
Inserting
the word not or never after had and before the main verb
will make the past perfect tense negative. Had and not
are often contracted as hadn’t.
Structure: Subject + had + not + Past
Participle
Examples
- I hadn’t seen him before.
- I hadn’t written the letter before he came.
- She hadn’t cleaned the kitchen for three days.
- She hadn’t flown before.
- They hadn’t done their homework before midnight.
- We hadn’t seen him when we got there.
- Unfortunately, I had not taken my laptop before I left for the office.
Note: It doesn’t matter if we reverse the
order of the clauses; the past perfect tense always refers to an earlier
action.
Past Perfect Tense Interrogative Sentences
To make
interrogative sentences in the past perfect tense, insert the verb had before
the subject.
Structure: Had + Subject + Past Participle
Examples
- Had she left when he came?
- Had
you had your homework
before coming to school?
- Had she cooked dinner
before her mother got back from work?
- Whom had you sent an email to?
Uses of the Past Perfect Tense
We often
used the simple past tense to describe actions that were completed
in the past. But if we want to say what happened before that time, we use the
past perfect tense. Below are some common uses of the past perfect tense with examples.
1. In reality,
the past perfect tense is the past of the past. It expresses an action before a
particular time in the past. To clarify which action happened first, we use the
past perfect in one clause and the past simple in the other clause.
Examples
- By the time they arrived, the plane had taken off. (the plane took off first, then they arrived)
- She had cleaned the home before her mother got home.
- I invited him to lunch, but he said no because he had already eaten.
- The children were not hungry at 9 P.M. They had already eaten.
- She had just put the phone down when someone knocked at the door.
- Someone stole my laptop because I had forgotten to lock the room.
2. When we add the
length of time to the past perfect tense, it means the same as the past
continuous tense.
i.e.,
past perfect + length of time
Examples
- My father was exhausted because he had been working hard since 8:00 (Past perfect Continuous)
- My father was exhausted because he had worked since 8:00 (Past Perfect)
These two
sentences describe the same concept. But we can’t do this with every verb.
3. When we want
to imply preceding action, it is indicated by the use of the following words
- Yet
- just
- recently
- already
- ever
- never
- so far
- before/by the time
- after
Examples
- The English teacher was amazing-I had never met anyone like him before.
- He had returned from school just then.
- My mother had already cooked the food.
- I had completed the work before my mother got home.
- We had finished the dinner before she came.
- After I had done the paper, I stopped a rickshaw for
taking me home.
- She had purchased the book by the time she told me.
- When we arrived, she hadn’t finished dressing yet.
4. This tense
is used for unfulfilled actions in the past
Example
- If I had worked hard, I would have passed.
- If she had left before, she would not have missed the train
- If she had loved, she wouldn’t have been so cruel.
5. It is also used for unfulfilled wishes in the past.
Example
- I wish my son had won the prize.
- She wishes (that) she had eaten so much.
The past
perfect tense uses the following verbs to indicate the action that did not take
place.
- Hope
- think
- suppose
- expect
- mean
- want
Examples
- I had wanted to help my father.
Past Perfect + Simple Past Tense
The past perfect and past simple
often have a little or no difference in their usage. For example
Past Perfect: I drank the juice that she had made.
Past Simple: I drank the juice that she made.
Past Perfect: I had read an exciting story before going to bed.
Past Simple: I read an interesting story before going to bed.
When it is necessary to emphasize
the completion of action before another rather than the two of them happening simultaneously,
the past perfect should be used.
Examples
- Hardly he left when his friends arrived.
This sentence describes two
completed past actions, but we cannot say which one happened first. Either he
left first, then his friends arrived, or else his friends arrived then
he left.
- Hardly had he left when his friends arrived. (he first left, then his friends arrived)
- The match had ended when we turned on the TV.
Past Perfect Tense Examples Sentences
- How many homes had he lived in?
- After she had won the election, she made a speech.
- She had cooked the meal before I got back from school.
- Until that night, I had never thought about taking admission to that college.
- We had
heard they were planning to move to New York.
- Had you bought that book?
- We had not visited the library by that day.
- When had you written this letter?
- Had you washed
the clothes before the evening?
- They had sold their house before they left for the UK.
- We had cleaned the offices before the officers came.
- They had reached home before the snow began to fall.
- Where had they driven to for the weekend?
English Tenses Exercises:
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