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Past Perfect Tense, Tenses, English Grammar Basics - Verbal Ability (VA) & Reading Comprehension (RC) - CAT

We use The Past Perfect Tense to express a past action that occurred either before another activity or before a point of time in the past.
 

Forming Past Perfect Tense

Affirmative Form
Subject + had + verb3 + complement
He had left the office

 

Negative Form
Subject + hadn't + verb3 + complement
He hadn't left the office.

 

Question Form
Had + subject + verb + complement ?
Had he left the office?

 

Negative Question
Hadn't + subject + verb3 + complement ?
Hadn't he left the office?

Past perfect tense

We form the past perfect tense with had and the past participle of the main verb.
 If we conjugate the verb 'to go' as an example in the past perfect tense we're going  to have :
Subject + had + gone ( past participle of  'to go' )

 I had gone                                 We had gone

You had gone                             You had gone

He had gone                               They had gone

She had gone

It had gone


When do we use the past perfect tense ??   
We use the past perfect tense to describe an action that took place in the past before another past action.

Examples

By the time we arrived , they had gone.

She said that she had seen that movie.


His customers had waited outside until Mark came to the shop.
Customers were already outside when Mark arrived to the shop. Act of waiting occurred before Mark's arrival.

The train had just left when I got to the station.
The train left and a few minutes later I got to the station.

Hint:
Use the Past Perfect Tense after 'AFTER'
Use the Past Perfect Tense before 'BEFORE'

She had cooked dinner before I got home.
I got home after she had cooked dinner.

The document Past Perfect Tense, Tenses, English Grammar Basics | Verbal Ability (VA) & Reading Comprehension (RC) - CAT is a part of the CAT Course Verbal Ability (VA) & Reading Comprehension (RC).
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FAQs on Past Perfect Tense, Tenses, English Grammar Basics - Verbal Ability (VA) & Reading Comprehension (RC) - CAT

1. What is the past perfect tense?
Ans. The past perfect tense is a verb form used to describe an action that took place before another action in the past. It is formed by using the auxiliary verb "had" followed by the past participle of the main verb.
2. When do we use the past perfect tense?
Ans. We use the past perfect tense when we want to show that one action happened before another action in the past. It is often used to talk about events that occurred before a specific point in the past or to describe an action that happened before another action in a story.
3. How do we form the past perfect tense?
Ans. To form the past perfect tense, we use the auxiliary verb "had" followed by the past participle of the main verb. For example, "I had already finished my homework before my friend arrived."
4. Can we use the past perfect tense in the present or future?
Ans. No, the past perfect tense is used specifically to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. It cannot be used to describe present or future events.
5. What is the difference between the past perfect tense and the simple past tense?
Ans. The past perfect tense is used to show that one action happened before another action in the past, while the simple past tense is used to talk about completed actions in the past without indicating any specific order. For example, "I had already eaten dinner before I watched TV" (past perfect) versus "I ate dinner and then watched TV" (simple past).
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