Past perfect - 1
Forms of Past Perfect
The Past Perfect Tense is formed by using the Past Simple Tense of the verb 'to have' with the participle.
- For regular verbs, just add 'ed' to the infinitive.
- For irregular verbs, use the participle form.
|
| Positive |
Negative |
Question |
| All pronouns |
I had worked |
You had not worked |
Had she worked? |
| |
We had spoken |
He had not spoken |
Had they spoken? |
| Exceptions in spelling when adding 'ed' |
Example |
| after a final e only add d |
love - loved |
final consonant after a short, stressed vowel
or / as final consonant after a vowel is doubled |
admit - admitted
travel - travelled |
| final y after a consonant becomes i |
hurry - hurried |
Use of Past Perfect
Signal words
- already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day (with reference to the past, not the present)
- If-Sentence type III (If I had talked,...)
The past perfect simple expresses an action taking place before a certain time in the past, or it expresses that someting did NOT happen in the past, and therefore something else did not, either.
Past perfect - 2
Actions taking place before a certain time in the past
Examples:
- Before I came here, I had spoken to Jack.
- I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.
- I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.
- Tony knew Istanbul so well because he had visited the city several times.
- Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?
- She only understood the movie because she had read the book.
- We were not able to get a hotel room because we had not booked in advance.
- A: Had you ever visited the U.S. before your trip in 2006?
B: Yes, I had been to the U.S. once before.
Actions that did NOT happen in the past (Conditional Sentences Type III)
Examples:
- If I had seen him, I would have talked to him. (But I did not see him, so I did not talk to him either)
- If I had owned a car, I would have driven to work. But I didn't own one, so I took the bus.
- She would have traveled around the world if she had had more money.
But she didn't have much money, so she never traveled.
- I would have read more as a child if I hadn't watched so much TV.
Unfortunately, I did watch a lot of TV, so I never read for entertainment.
- Mary would have gotten the job and moved to Japan if she had studied Japanese in school instead of French.
- If Jack had worked harder, he would have earned more money. Unfortunately, he was lazy and he didn't earn much.
- A: What would you have done if you had won the lottery last week?
B: I would have bought a house.
