Usage of Past Perfect Tense
- Past Perfect Tense is used to describe an action that took place in the past before another past action. It is used in conjunction with the past tense (By the time we arrived, my uncle had gone)
- Past Perfect Tense can be used similarly for an action:
- Which began before the time of speaking in the past and was still continuing at that time (I had lived in New York since I was child)
- Which began before the time of speaking in the past and stopped at that time or just before it (John had waited for an hour was very angry with his sister when she eventually turned up)
- Which began before the time of speaking in the past and stopped some time before the time of speaking ( He had served in the army for ten years then he retired and married)
Form of Past Perfect Tense
Affirmative
Subject + had + Verb3
|
I had waited
You/They/We had
gone
He/she/my
friend/ had studied English
|
Negative
Subject + had + not + Verb3
|
I had not
eaten rice
You/They/We had
not gone
He/she/my
friend/ had not studied English
|
Interrogative
Had +
subject + verb3
|
Had I eaten rice?
Had You/They/We gone?
Had He/she/my friend/ studied
English?
|
Negative
interrogative
Had +
not + subject + verb3
|
Had not I eaten rice?
Had not You/They/We gone?
Had not He/she/my friend/ studied
English?
|
Notes:
The sorted form
I had : I’d
You had : You’d
We had : We’d
They had : They’d
He had : He’d
She had : She’d
Had not : hadn’t
Had not : hadn’t
Past Perfect
Tense
|
Question
|
Short Answer
|
Complete Answer
|
Had you eaten?
|
Yes I had
No, I had not
|
Yes I had eaten
No, I had not eaten
|
|
Had he studied English?
|
Yes he had
No, he had not
|
Yes he had studied English
No, he had not studied
English
|