Past perfect simple
The Past Perfect Simple Tense
Useful Tip
Time Expressions in the Past Perfect
Simple
The time expressions already, for,
since, and yet may be used in the past perfect simple, as they are in the
present perfect simple. Remember the following rules for using other time expressions:
·
Use after, as soon as, the moment
that, until before using the past perfect simple.
Ex: After she had moved out, I found her notes./ I didn’t say anything until she had
finished talking.
·
Use before, when, by the time before
the past simple:
Ex. Before I knew it, she had run out the door. / By
the time he phoned her, she had found someone new.
The past perfect simple is used to
describe one action that happened before another action in the past.
In many cases a complete sentence is
written in two parts with two different tenses:
1.
The past perfect simple, to refer to
the action that happened first or earlier
2.
The past simple to refer to the
action that happened second or later
Sometimes the past perfect simple is
used on its own and the action that took place afterwards is understood.
1.
After Sofie had finished her work,
she went to lunch.
(First she finished her work and then she went to eat lunch.)
2.
I washed the floor when the painter
had gone.
(First the painter left and then I washed the floor.)
3.
Harold had known about it for a
while.
(First he knew about it, then others knew about it)
The past perfect simple tense is
formed by using the auxiliary verb had together with the V3 (past participle).
The V3 (past participle) form of a regular verb looks just like a regular verb
in the past simple:
1.
walk > walked / study >
studied / stop > stopped / create > created
There are quite a few irregular verbs
in English though. It pays to memorize them.
|
Subject |
had +Verb(V3) |
Rest of Sentence |
|
I
/ You / We / They |
had met |
him
before he became famous |
|
had lived |
here
for three years by the time we met |
Note:
The order of phrases may be switched, but the meaning will stay the same.
1.
By the time Doris got to the party,
everyone had gone home.
2.
Everyone had gone home by the time
Doris had got to the party.
Note: Had Had – A verb combination
that often causes confusion in the past perfect simple is had had. Ex. I had
had enough to eat, but I wanted dessert anyway. The first had is the auxiliary
(or helping) verb and the second had is the V3 (or past participle) of the main
verb to have. It means that even though I ate enough, I wanted dessert after
that. It may look strange, but it is correct.
Contractions in the Past Perfect
Simple
Punctuation Tip
When you begin a sentence with a time
expression, put a comma (,) after the first part of the sentence.
We often contract the subject (the
person or thing that had done the action) and had:
1.
I had > I’d –
After I’d used the phone, I paid the bill.
2.
He had > He’d / She has
> She’d / It has > It’d – It’d happened so
quickly, I didn’t notice.
3.
We had > We’d / You have
> You’d /They are > They’d – We’d just
gotten home, when we heard the blast outside.
Negative Sentences in the Past
Perfect Simple Tense
When creating negative sentences, we
use the auxiliary verbs hadn’t (had not) together with the V3 (past participle)
form of the verb. You can also create a negative sentence by using the
auxiliary verb had with the time expression never and then the V3.
|
Subject |
Auxillery Verb |
Verb in V3 |
Rest of Sentence |
|
I
/ You / We / They |
hadn’t (had not) |
driven |
a car before then |
|
had never |
driven |
a car before then |
1.
I had not eaten at that
restaurant before today.
2.
Samantha hadn’t had time to
explain her side of the story.
3.
My friends hadn’t ever gone to
France.
4.
My friends had never gone to
the USA either.
Yes/No Questions in the Past Perfect
Simple
To create a question that will be answered
with a yes or no, start the question with Had (Hadn’t for a negative question)
then add a subject (the person or thing that had done the action) followed by
the V3 (Past Participle) form of the verb and only then add the rest of the
sentence.
|
Auxiliary
Verb |
Subject |
Verb in V3 |
Rest of Sentence |
|
Had |
I / you / we / they |
had |
time
to rehearse you’re the song |
|
Had |
he / she / it |
eaten |
there before |
1.
Had you cleaned up the
mess by the time they came home?
2.
Had Adam ever spoken to
the CEO before he was fired?
Wh-Questions in the Past Perfect
Simple
Wh- questions are questions that
require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words are what, where,
when, why, who, how, how many, how much.
To create a wh-question, start with
the wh-word, then add had, then the subject (a person or thing that had done
the action), followed by the V3 (Past Participle) form of the verb and only
then add the rest of the sentence.
|
Wh-Word |
Auxiliary Verb |
Subject |
Verb in V3 |
Rest of Sentence |
|
What |
had |
I / you / we / they |
taught |
before leaving
education |
|
Why |
had |
changed |
the subject |
1.
What
had they said that made him so angry?
2.
Why had he agreed to
work for that salary?
3.
How much had he drunk before
you got to him?
Tag Questions in the Past Perfect
Simple
Tag questions are those short
questions that are tagged onto the end of a sentence. They are used just to
make sure that the person you’re talking to understood what you meant or to
emphasize what you said.
They’re formed by writing a regular
sentence in the past perfect simple, then by adding hadn’t and a pronoun (I,
you, we, they, he, she, it) and a question mark.
1.
John had known about the cancer for a
couple of years, hadn’t he?
2.
They had been in business
together, hadn’t they?
You may also add a positive tag when
you’re using a negative sentence.
1.
Jennifer hadn’t spoken to you about
it, had she?
2.
They had never eaten a proper Indian
meal, had they?
As a rule: When the sentence is
positive, the tag is negative.
When the sentence is negative, the tag is positive.
Exercises – Past Perfect Simple
Fill in the correct form of the past
perfect simple or past simple as in the examples.
1.
After Loren had turned on
the alarm, she locked the door. (turn on)
2.
By the time Simone arrived, the
police had already left. (arrive)
3.
Had you known about
the contract they signed? (know)
1.
After the company _____Joe, he began
to work on his first project. (hire)
2.
_____you _______ the news before you
saw it on TV? (hear)
3.
Michael didn’t want to see the movie
because he _______ the book yet. (not read)
4.
The concert ______ already
_______when we _______ the stadium. (begin/ enter)
5.
Until Anne ________ Mark, she ____
never ______in love. (meet, be)
6.
Bill __________ for years before he
finally _______. (smoke/
quit)
7.
_______ Sara ever _______to London by
herself before then? (drive)
8.
How many fish ______ the boys _____
by the time it started raining? (catch)
9.
You ________ them to go to the beach,
hadn’t you? (forbid)
10.
The girls _______ in weeks? That’s
why they ______ so much afterwards. (exercise / hurt)
Answers:
1.
had hired
2.
Had/heard
3.
hadn’t read
4.
had/begun/entered
5.
met/had/been
6.
had smoked/quit
7.
Had/driven
8.
had/caught
9.
had forbidden
10.
hadn’t exercised / hurt
Examples – Past Perfect Simple
1.
After Sofie had finished her work,
she went to lunch.
2.
I washed the floor when the painter
had gone.
3.
Harold had known about it for a
while.
4.
I didn’t say anything until she had
finished talking.
5.
After she had moved out, I found her
notes.
6.
Before I knew it, she had run out the
door.
7.
By the time he phoned her, she had
found someone new.
8.
By the time Doris got to the party,
everyone had gone home.
9.
Everyone had gone home by the time
Doris had got to the party.
10.
I had had enough of his complaining.
11.
After I’d used the phone, I paid the
bill.
12.
It’d happened so quickly, I didn’t
notice.
13.
We’d just gotten home, when we heard
the blast outside.
Negative
1.
I had not eaten at that restaurant
before today.
2.
Samantha hadn’t had time to explain
her side of the story.
3.
My friends hadn’t ever gone to
France.
4.
My friends had never gone to the USA
either.
Yes/No Questions
1.
Had you cleaned up the mess by the
time they came home?
2.
Had Adam ever spoken to the CEO
before he was fired?
Wh- Questions
1.
What had they said that made him so
angry?
2.
Why had he agreed to work for that
salary?
3.
How much had he drunk before you got
to him?
Tag Questions
1.
John had known about the cancer for a
couple of years, hadn’t he?
2.
They had been in business together,
hadn’t they?
3.
Jenifer hadn’t spoken to you about
it, had she?
4.
They had never eaten a proper Indian
meal, had they?
Put a video with the past perfect simple/ make examples and sentensences.
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