Table of contents | |
Introduction | |
How to make the Past Perfect tense? | |
Contraction with Past Perfect | |
How to use the Past Perfect tense? |
The Past Perfect tense is relatively straightforward in both comprehension and application. It pertains to the "past within the past."
The structure of the Past Perfect tense is:
The auxiliary verb (have) is conjugated in the Past Simple: had
The main verb is invariable in past participle form: -ed (or irregular)
For negative sentences we insert not between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.
For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the auxiliary verb.
Look at these example sentences with the Past Perfect tense:
In spoken language, it's common to contract the subject and auxiliary verb when using the Past Perfect tense. This contraction is also occasionally employed in informal writing.
In negative sentences, we may contract the auxiliary verb and "not":
The Past Perfect tense expresses action in the past before another action in the past. This is the past in the past. For example:
Look at some more examples:
You can sometimes think of the Past Perfect tense like the Present Perfect tense, but instead of the time being now the time is before.
For example, imagine that you arrive at the station at 9:15am. The stationmaster says to you:
Later, you tell your friends:
We often use the Past Perfect in reported speech after verbs like: said, told, asked, thought, wondered
Look at these examples:
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