Paste perfect rules and examples table. Past Perfect – past perfect tense in English

Past Perfect is one of the forms of the past tense, denoting an event that happened at a certain moment before another action began.

The very existence of this grammatical phenomenon is shining example how ordered the English language is, how important the sequence of perfect events is within the framework of its type-time paradigm. As shown in the diagram below, the action expressed in this tense occurs before some other action in the past.

Also, instead of action 2, there may be some point in time in the past, before which some event occurred, as shown in the following example:

Methods of forming Past Perfect

Affirmative sentences

In order to get a statement in the Past Perfect, you need the verb had and the 3rd form of the main verb (V3). The ending - ed is added to the regular verb, and if the verb is irregular, its form is taken from the 3rd column (Participle II).

Below is a table with an example where you can observe the construction of this past tense form.

Structure	Subject (Who? What?)	HAD	V3 (V+ed/Participle II)
Scheme	☺	had	V3
Example	Mom	had	painted	the wall by 5 o'clock.
Translation	Mother		painted	wall by 5 o'clock.

It is worth noting that abbreviations are common. In statements, had is combined with using an apostrophe (‘)

She had = She'd

I had = I'd

We had = We'd

Below are examples of the use of verbs in the Past Perfect, both in full and in shortened form.

Full form	Short form	Translation
I had read.	I'd read.	I read it.
He had smoked.	He'd smoked.	He smoked.
She had written.	She'd written.	She wrote.
It had flown.	It'd flown.	It flew away.
We had broken.	We'd broken	We broke it.
You had rung.	You'd drunk.	You called.
They had invented.	They'd come.	They invented it.

Negative type of sentences

Negative sentences are formed by adding not between had and the semantic verb. In this case, the words are arranged in the same order as in the affirmative.

Structure	Subject (Who? What?)	HAD	V3 (V+ed/Participle II)
Scheme	☺	had not	V3
Example	Mom	had not	painted	the wall by 5 o'clock.
Translation	Mother	Not	painted	wall by 5 o'clock.

Abbreviated forms in speech are used much more often than full ones. To shorten, you need to combine the auxiliary verb had with the particle not using an apostrophe (’), as shown below:

I had = I hadn’t

You had = You hadn’t

She had = She hadn’t

Below are examples of the use of verbs in the Past Perfect, both in full and in shortened forms of negative types of sentences.

Full form	Short form	Translation
I had not put.	I hadn't put it.	I didn't put it.
He had not blown.	Didn't blown.	He didn't cheat.
She had not learned.	She hadn't learned.	She didn't learn.
It didn't flow.	It didn't flow.	It didn't fly away.
We had not broken.	We hadn't broken.	We didn't break it.
You weren't drunk.	You weren't drunk.	You haven't had a drink.
They had not invented.	They hadn't invented.	They didn't invent it.

Interrogative sentences

In sentences interrogative type the word order will be reversed. As you can see in the table below, the auxiliary verb had should come first, then the subject, and then the semantic verb V3:

Structure	HAD	Subject (Who? What?)	V3 (V+ed/Participle II)
Scheme	Had	☺	V3	?
Example	Had	Mom	painted	the wall by 5 o’clock?
Translation	Did you paint it?	Mother		wall by 5 o'clock.

The following table shows examples of using the Past Perfect in interrogative sentences. You can also observe that the word order is reversed everywhere:

Using the Past Perfect

1. Most often Past Perfect means an event in the past that happened before some other action. This subsequent action often occurs in the Simple Past.

We drove up to the opera house, but the performance had finished. - We arrived at opera house, but the performance has already ended. (first the performance ended, then we arrived at the opera house).

2.Past Perfect denotes an event, which happened in the past at the designated time. In this case, the very moment at which the action was completed will be indicated. In the example below, this point is indicated by by:

Matt had finished repairing the car by 9 o’clock. – Mat finished repairing the car by 9 o’clock. (repair was completed by the time the clock was 9)

3.Sometimes the Past Perfect indicates that an event expressed in this tense is the cause of another, subsequent action or state.

She was happy. She had received lots of gifts. - She was happy. She received many gifts.

She didn’t invite him for dinner as she had burnt the chicken in the oven. “She didn’t invite him to dinner because she burned the chicken in the oven.”

4.Using Past Perfect denotes a continuous action that began earlier and continued for some time. In this case, the prepositions since and for are most often used, which are translated as “since” and “during”, respectively.

He died last Monday. We had remembered him since he was a toddler. “He died last Monday.” We remembered him since he was a one-year-old baby.

She was a talented violinist. We had loved her playing for 10 years. – She was a talented violinist. We enjoyed her playing for 10 years.

It should be noted that the Past Perfect in this case is used only with that express emotions and perception. For example, love, know, adore, think, feel, regret, etc. With dynamic verbs, the Past is necessary to express duration Perfect Continuous.

Ben retired on July, 2. This dude had been coaching us for 10 years. – Ben retired on the second of July. This guy worked as our coach for 10 years.

5. In conditional sentences of the third type Past Perfect used to express regret about something that did not happen. Something in the past could have been done if the condition had been met, but at the present moment it is no longer possible to influence the situation.

If I had met Harry, I would have given a hug to him. “If I met Harry, I would hug him.”

If she had ironed her dress, her parents would have given her some more funds. If she had ironed her dress, her parents would have given her more money.

6. In sentences that use words such as hardly... when and no sooner... than, Past Perfect denotes a sequence of events. The use of this tense emphasizes that one action happened immediately after another. Such constructions are translated using the expressions “didn’t have time...”, “as soon as...”, “barely...”. In sentences of this type the opposite is true.

Hardly had Jens gone out, when somebody threw a stone to his head. Jens had barely left when someone threw a stone at his head.

No sooner had Tony sunk into the sea water than the funny dolphin was seen nearby. - Before Tony had time to plunge into sea ​​water when a funny dolphin appeared nearby.

Use of time adverbs

Past Perfect is used with the following time markers:

• by(at some time/moment)
  Kate had smoked 10 cigarettes by the moment they came (Kate smoked 10 cigarettes by the time they came);
• after(after)
  After he had lost 10 pounds, he changed the size of his clothes (After he lost 10 pounds, he changed the size of his clothes);
• before(before/before)
  Before I came home, I had delayed at college to help the tutor (Before I came home, I stayed in college to help the teacher);
• when(When)
  Molly had crossed the brook when the dog looked at her (Molly crossed the brook when the dog looked at her);
• earlier(earlier)
  I didn’t know where my boyfriend was as he had snaffled my money earlier (I had no idea where my boyfriend was, since he stole my money earlier);
• just(just now)
  It was 7 p.m. and she had just taken the shower (It was 7 o'clock in the evening and she had just taken a shower);
• already(already)
  They were going for that city as she had already got a new job (They moved to that city because she had already found a new job);
• yet(still, already)
  They arranged the party but they hadn’t brought the drinks yet (They organized the party, but haven’t brought the drinks yet).

Also used with markers such as yet, already and just. It is necessary to understand that when using the Past Perfect, the speaker refers to the past, and the Present Perfect denotes an event that happened in the past, but its consequences affect the present.

I have written 7 poems already. – I have already written 7 poems. (I already have 7 written poems)

By the moment I lost my vision, I had written 7 poems already. – By the time I lost my sight, I had already written 7 poems. (I had already written 7 poems, and then I lost my sight).

Cases of replacing Past Perfect with Past Simple

At the moment, there is a tendency to replace Past Perfect with Past Simple if the order of actions is obvious from the context. Most often this happens in . Sentences like these use different time markers.

• after (after)

After she had washed the walls in the bathroom, she peeled the vegetables for a salad. = After she washed the walls in the bathroom, she peeled the vegetables for a salad.
After she washed the bathroom walls, she peeled the vegetables for the salad.

• before (before/before)

I had visited my cousin once before I left for Hungary. = I visited my cousin once before I left for Hungary.
I visited cousin once before I left for Hungary.

• earlier (earlier),

I helped my neighbors though I was incensed by them as they had crashed my motorbike earlier. = I helped my neighbors though I was incensed by them as they crashed my motorbike earlier.
I helped mine neighbors, Although was Very angry on them, That's why What They smashed my moped.

But: If the conjunction when is used in a sentence, changing the tense is not possible, as the meaning will change.

When we hauled our bags to the hotel, Mary had checked in. – When we brought the bags to the hotel, Mary had already checked in.
(Past Perfect means Mary checked in before we even brought our bags to the hotel)

When we hauled our bags to the hotel, Mary checked in. – When we brought our bags to the hotel, Mary checked in.
(Past Simple shows that we brought our bags to the hotel first, and then Mary checked in)

At first glance, this time seems difficult. It is important to remember the basic principle - the Past Perfect is where two actions occurred sequentially. The one that happened earlier is expressed in the Past Perfect, and the one that happened after it is expressed in the Past Simple.

In addition, this tense indicates that some past event has ended at some point. To make it easier to understand in what cases it is used given time, you need to remember the markers that are used with the Past Perfect, study the structure of sentences, and also visualize the sequence of actions.

And in order to finally consolidate the material and put everything “on the shelves,” we recommend watching the video:

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Past Perfect (past perfect) is used to denote an action that took place before a certain point in the past.

Education Past Perfect Tense

The Past Perfect is formed using the auxiliary verb to have in the past tense form (had) and the past participle form of the semantic verb. This form of the verb is also called the “third form of the verb” and is designated conventionally as V3 (verb 3). For regular verbs this is the infinitive ending –ed, for irregular verbs it is the third column in the Table of Irregular Verbs.

The general formula is as follows:
had + V3

I had played.
He had played.

Interrogative form: did + subject + V3:
Had I played?
Had he played?

In a special question, the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject, and the desired interrogative pronoun is used before the auxiliary verb:

Where had I played?
Why had he played?
With whom had you played?

In a question to the subject, an interrogative pronoun who is placed before the predicate instead of the subject itself:

Who had played?

Negative form: had + not + V3:
I had not played ed.
He had not played ed.

Interrogative negative form: had + subject + not + V3 or hadn't + subject + V3:
Had I not played? = Hadn't I played?
Had he not played? = Hadn't he played?

The following abbreviations are used in colloquial speech:
had = 'd
had not = hadn’t = ‘d not
I"d play ed.
He hadn't played.
He"d not play ed.
Hadn't we played?

Affirmative form	Negative form
I had played He (she, it) had play ed We had play ed You had play ed They had play ed	I had not play ed He (she, it) had not play ed We had not play ed You didn't play ed They had not play ed
Question form	Interrogative-negative form
Had I play ed ? Had he (she, it) play ed ? Had we play ed ? Had you play ed ? Had they play ed ?	Had I not play ed ? Had he (she, it) not play ed ? Had we not play ed ? Had you not play ed ? Had they not play ed?

Use of Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect is used:

1. To express a past action that took place before a certain point in the past. It is also called “pre-past tense”, since a past action occurred before another past action. To denote such a moment in the past, the following are used:

A) by ten o"clock by ten o'clock,by that time by that time, by the 11th of April by April 11, by April by April etc.:
My son had done the homework by 8 o"clock. The son did his homework by eight o'clock.
By June he had already come. By June he was already back.

b) another past action that took place later (in Past Simple):
He knew that they had left the city. He learned that they had left the city. (at first left, and then found out)
The rain had stopped when we reached the town. The rain stopped when we reached the city.

c) context:

While we were playing in the yard, we became hungry. It was great that I had taken some sandwiches. While we were playing football, we got hungry. Thank God I brought sandwiches with me!

When listing actions, they are used in the Past Simple, despite the fact that some actions occurred before others:
He took the newspaper, sat down on the chair and started reading. He took the newspaper, sat down on a chair and began to read.

2. In a subordinate clause after a conjunction after after and when in the after value:
After the rain had stopped, we went for a walk. After the rain stopped, we went for a walk.

3. In the main clause, when the subordinate clause begins with a conjunctionbefore before, before, because The action in the main happened before the action in the subordinate clause:
We had prepared supper before our mom returned. We had already prepared dinner before mom returned.

3. To express a continuous action that began in the past and continued until a certain point in the past or at the moment. The sentence must contain prepositions since with or for .

a) with verbs that are not used in the Continuous (for more details, see Verbs that do not have Continuos forms:
He had been away for several months before his first letter came. Before the first letter arrived from him, he had already been absent for several months.

b) with some verbs instead of the Past Perfect Continuous, if the speaker wants to focus not on the duration, but on the fact of the action.
The Ivanovs had lived in Moscow for five years when I met them. The Ivanovs had already lived in Moscow for five years when I met them.(fact is important)
The Ivanovs had been living in Moscow for five years when I met them. The Ivanovs had already lived in Moscow for five years when I met them.(duration, process is important)

4. With adverbs:
hardly... when barely... how
scarcely... when barely... how
no sooner... when barely... how

In this case, the Past Simple is used in the subsequent subordinate clause:
Didn't hardly (scarcely) come, when the film

Such sentences, as a rule, have an emphatic meaning and are used with inversion.
Hardly had he come when the film started. As soon as he arrived, the film began.

Uses of Past Perfect Tense

1. An action that took place before a certain point in the past.
2. After the conjunctions after and when in the meaning after
3. In the main clause, the subordinate clause of which begins with before.
4. A continuous action that began in the past and continued until a certain point in the past or at the moment (instead of Past Perfect Continuous)
5. B complex sentence in the presence of hardly ... when, etc. adverb.

Education Past Perfect Tense

1. Past Perfect is formed using the auxiliary verb to have in the form of the past tense (had) and the form of the past participle (Past Participle) of the semantic verb: I had worked, he had worked.
2. B interrogative form The auxiliary verb comes before the subject: Had I worked? Had he worked?
3. The negative form is formed using the particle not, which is placed after the auxiliary verb: I had not worked, he had not worked.
4. In the interrogative-negative form, the negation not is placed immediately after the subject: Had I not worked? Had he not worked?

Affirmative form	Question form	Negative form	Interrogative-negative form
He (she, it) had worked	Had he (she, it) worked? Had they worked?	I had not worked He (she, it) had not worked We had not worked You had not worked They had not worked	Had I not worked? Had he (she, it) not worked? Had we not worked? Had you not worked? Had they not worked?

The following abbreviations are commonly used in colloquial speech:

Time Past Perfect formed using an auxiliary verb to have in the past tense and the past participle of the significant verb, that is, its “third form”.

To have in the past tense has a single form had.

Second participle or past participle ( Participle II), can be obtained by adding the ending to the initial form of a significant verb -ed:

examine - examin ed, enjoy - enjoy ed,close-close ed

However, in English there is also enough large group irregular verbs that do not form the past tense according to general rules.

IN interrogative sentence The auxiliary verb is placed in front of the subject, and the significant verb remains after it:

Had you brushed your teeth before you went to bed?
Did you brush your teeth before going to bed?

IN negative sentences the auxiliary verb is followed by a negative particle not. In doing so, they can be reduced to the form hadn't.

How did you hope to pass the exam if you had not (hadn't) even opened the textbook?
How did you expect to pass the exam if you hadn’t even opened your textbook before?

Cases of using Past Perfect:

1. When there is an indication of the point in time at which an action in the past ended:
By 9 o"clock we"d finished the work.
By 9 o'clock we finished work.
She had written only two letters by noon.
By noon she had written only 2 letters.

2. When an action in the past took place before another action:
When you arrived, he had just left.
When you arrived, he had just left.
He had worked at the university for thirty years before he retired.
He worked at the university for 30 years before retiring.

3. In indirect speech to convey the present perfect and simple past tense:
He said he had studied English for two years. (He said: "I have studied English for two years.")
He said he has been studying English for two years.
She said she had published her first story 10 years before. (She said: "I published my first story 10 years ago.")
She said she published her first story 10 years ago.

She had written a letter by 5 o"clock on Saturday.
- She had not written a letter by 5 o"clock on Saturday.
? Had he written a letter by 5 o"clock on Saturday?
Yes, he had. No, he had not. (No, he hadn't.)

4. To denote actions that began before a specified moment in the past and continue until that moment. Usually such actions are expressed using Past Perfect Continuous, but used with static verbs Past Perfect. In this case, the period of time during which the action took place must be indicated:

I felt as if I had known her all my - I had a feeling like

life. as if I had known her all my life.

We went to see Mr Fennel who - We went to see Mr. Fennell,

hadbeen a widower for two years. who had been a widower for two years.

5. To express unfulfilled hopes, desires, etc., relating to both the past, present and even future tense:

I had hoped we could leave - I was hoping that we could leave

tomorrow but it’s beginning to tomorrow, but it seems it's becoming

look difficult. not easy (about a future event).

I had intended to make a cake but - I was going to make a cake, but

I ran out of time. didn’t have time (about a past event).

6. In subordinate tenses to express an action that is future in relation to past events and must occur before the beginning of the event expressed by the main sentence:

Not decided he wouldn't look at- He decided that he would not watch

his watch till he had read 30 pages. on the clock until it reads 30

Past Perfect not used:

1) when we're talking about about the immediate sequence of events in the past, especially about the immediate reaction of people:

I got a real shock when I opened - I got really scared when

the box. opened the box.

2) when describing short sequential actions performed by different persons:

When I put the cat out he ran - When I put the cat out, he ran away

away to the bushes. into the bushes.

3) in subordinate clauses relating to sentences where the predicate is expressed by a verb in Past Perfect:

He told me that someone had - He told me that someone called

phoned when I was out. when I wasn't there.

Pivot table

Formation of forms
had + V+ ed/ III form irregular verb
Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
He/she/it had run.	He/she/it had not run.	Had he/she/it run?
	You didn't run.
	They had not run.
Cases of use
1. An action completed in the past, but connected to the present through the result.	I had done my home work before he called me. I had gone shopping before they arrived. When I rank, she had already left. When I came back home, I found out that my wallet had been stolen. I though that I had seen him somewhere before. She had cooked dinner at 2 p.m.	I did my homework before he called me. I went shopping before they arrived. When I called, she had already left. When I returned home, I discovered that my wallet had been stolen. I thought I had seen him somewhere before. She prepared lunch by 2 o'clock.
2. An action that began before some point in the past and was still continuing at that moment. Instead of The Past Perfect Continuous with verbs not used in Continous.	They had known each other for many years when they decided to marry. They had lived in this town for years when the flood destroyed all the place.	They had known each other for many years when they decided to get married. They lived in this city for many years when a flood destroyed the entire area.

So, let's summarize the word formation in THE PAST PERFECT TENSE.

4.1. Affirmative form:

I had come - I came
He had come - He came
She had come - She came
It had come - He, she, it, it came (about inanimate objects)
We had come - We came
You had come - You came, you came
They had come - They came

4.2. Question form:

Had I come? - Am I here?
Had he come? - Has he come?
Had she come? - Has she come?
Had it come? - He, she, it, did it come? (about inanimate objects)
Had we come? - Have we arrived?
Had you come? -Have you come? Have you come?
Had they come? - Have they come?

4.3. Negative form:

I had not come - I didn’t come
He had not come - He did not come
She had not come - She did not come
It had not come - He, she, it, it did not come (about inanimate objects)
We had not come - We did not come
You had not come - You didn’t come, you didn’t come
They had not come - They did not come

Use of THE PAST PERFECT TENSE

The main and most common cases of using Past Perfect:
1. When expressing actions that have already ended at a specified point in time in the past. Usually, these actions are expressed by the exact date, hour, etc.:

They had finished our work by seven o"clock. - They (already) finished their work by seven o'clock.

2. When expressing actions that preceded another action in the past:

She had written two articles, when the door was open and Bill Clinton comes in the room.
She had written two articles when the door swung open and Bill Clinton walked into the room.

Past perfect is the past perfect tense in English. At its core, it almost repeats Present Perfect, but there are 3 differences:

1. Present perfect is used in simple sentences,
Past perfect - in complex subordinates(i.e. consisting of 2 parts).

2. The present perfect is formed with "have",
Past perfect - using "had":

Present Perfect

Past Perfect

The secret to understanding the past perfect lies in the verb "h ad". Becoming auxiliary, “had” loses its meaning “had” and takes on the meaning “already”. You can read more about the formation of the Past perfect on the page Formation of the past tense in English.

Rule 1. The task of Past Perfect is to show the sequence of events. The event that happened first in time is used in the past perfect. The one that happened second is in Past Simple. If you use the past simple in both parts of a sentence, it is not always clear which event happened first. Let's demonstrate this with examples.

Let's consider one proposal in three options:
First time - without using Past perfect,
second and third - using Past perfect in different parts proposals.

Past perfect, examples

	first part of the sentence	second part of the sentence
	She prepared dinner	when he came home.
	She cooked dinner	when he came home.
		come - came - come (3 forms of irregular verb)
	Past simple	Past simple
	The sequence of events is not clear. Using the past perfect, the sequence of events became clear:
	She had prepared dinner	when he came home.
	She's already prepared dinner	when he came home.
	Past perfect	Past simple
	She prepared dinner	when he had come home.
	She was cooking dinner	when he had already arrived home.
		come - came - come
	Past simple	Past perfect

Rule 2. There is a situation when the past perfect tense cannot be replaced by any other tense. It appears in sentences with the word “if”, but not always, but only in past tense. In English grammar, this situation is called the subjunctive mood in the past tense (conditional 3). In practice it occurs quite rarely.

Time Past Perfect Tens in the system of all past tenses demonstrates the following video:

The following illustrated table will help you see the place of Past Perfect among the 4 types of past tenses "

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Past perfect tense sometimes called antecedent, it refers to those English tenses that have no exact analogues in Russian. To better understand the meaning of the Past Perfect, you can draw a parallel with the Present Perfect.

Past Perfect- this is an analogue of the Present Perfect, only for the past. If in Present Perfect action happened to the present moment, then in the Past Perfect - to some moment in the past. This moment in the past can be expressed by another past action, which can be mentioned in a subordinate clause, or indicated in a separate sentence, as well as a time adverb. It is often translated into Russian with the past perfect verb what did you do?

Education Past Perfect

Basic meaning of Past Perfect

Very often in sentences with a verb in the Past Perfect you can find characteristic adverbs and time adverbs, namely:

Example sentences

By the time they were rescued they had already spent three days without food and water. By the time they were rescued, they had already spent 3 days without food or water. I knew about the accident because I had watched the news the night before. I knew about the incident because... I watched the news last night.

Example sentences

I had learned to read before I went to school. I learned to read before I went to school. When we arrived at the cinema the film had already started. When we arrived at the cinema, the film had already started.

Example sentences The Vikings had sailed to North America a thousand years ago. Vikings sailed to North America thousands of years ago. The Chinese had built the Great Wall over two thousand years ago. The Chinese built the Great Wall of China about two thousand years ago. 2. Past Perfect used in indirect speech Example sentences Sally said that she had lost her keys. Sally said she lost her keys. Martin replied that he had tried to call Dave the day before. Martin replied that he had tried to call Dave the day before. 3. Past Perfect should also be used in conditional sentences of the third type (unreal, implied condition, referring to the past). Example sentences If I had heard the weather forecast I would have taken an umbrella. If I had heard the weather forecast, I would have taken an umbrella. If we had taken the map, we wouldn’t have got lost in the mountains. If we had taken a map, we would not have gotten lost in the mountains. 4. Also Past Perfect used in sentences with I wish, If only to express regret about something in the past. Example sentences I wish I had sent her a birthday present. I wish I had sent her a birthday present. If only I hadn’t spent so much money! If only I hadn't spent so much money! Now watch the video on Past Perfect: