Past Perfect
The past perfect tense is used to establish a sequence of events in the past, the past perfect must be used with at lease one other action in the past. Actions in the past perfect tense indicate the action that happened first, however this is not always the case when 3 or more actions are mentioned, English students must become adept at determining the sequence of events of past actions when the past perfect is used. This tense requires the auxiliary verb -have in the past tense (-had) to be combined with the past participle of a verb. The past participle form of regular verbs are formed by adding -ed or -d (if the regular verb ends in an -e) to their infinitive form, the simple past form and past participle form of all regular verbs end in -ed. The simple past form and the past participle form of irregular verbs must be memorized as there are no general rules that apply for how they are formed.
This tense is used:
1) To establish a sequence between two past actions.
2) To describe actions that were completed at a certain point in the past.
3) To describe incomplete actions in the past.
Time Expressions
The past perfect tense is often used with past time expressions. However, it is not necessary to always mention a past time expression when using a past tense if the context of the past was already established by a previous statement or question in a conversation.
Formation - Affirmative Statements & Questions
Affirmative statements in the past perfect tense are formed using the auxiliary verb -have in the simple past tense (-had) followed by the past participle of a verb, this structure is the same for all subjects. Afirmative statements and questions made in the past perfect must include a second action in the past to compliment the action in the past perfect tense, however in conversation the past action may be mentioned by the person we are speaking to, in this case it is not necessary to state the second action ourselves. Questions are formed by placing the auxiliary verb -have before the subject followed by the past participle of a verb.
Structure used to form affirmative statements in the past prefect
Subject + had + past participle of a verb
Structure used to form affirmative questions in the past perfect
Had + subject + past participle of a verb?
Examples:
Ex: I couldn't open the door this morning, I'd lost my keys.
Ex: He had expected a different grade than what he received.
Ex: Had you called before you went there at 9am?
Ex: The package arrived on time but Charles had already left.
Formation - Negative Statements & Questions
Negative statements in the past perfect tense are formed using the auxiliary verb -have in the simple past tense (-had) followed by the adverb -not and the past participle of a verb, this structure is the same for all subjects. Negative statements and questions made in the past perfect must include a second action in the past to compliment the action in the past perfect tense, however in conversation the past action may be mentioned by the person we are speaking to, in this case it is not necessary to state the second action ourselves. Negative questions are formed by placing the auxiliary verb -have before the subject followed by the adverb -not and the past participle of a verb. Negative questions are used to express surprise, confirm a belief, or invite agreement.
Structure used to form negative statements in the past perfect
Subject + had not + present participle of a verb
Structure used to form negative questions in the past perfect
Had + subject + not + present participle of a verb?
Examples:
Ex: I hadn't closed my window last night and the rain flooded my room.
Ex: Charles took the day off because his students had not reserved any classes.
Ex: Hadn't he told anyone he was leaving before he went on vacation?
Ex: Her blood sugar was low, she hadn't taken her medication today.
Past perfect uses
To establish a sequence between two past actions
Examples
Ex: My watch stopped working, the battery had died.
Ex: He'd studied hard, he was prepared for the test.
Ex: Kate had a hangover, she had drunk too much the night before.
Ex: We received a past due bill, hadn't you paid this on time?
Ex: The cat was meowing, I hadn't fed it.
Ex: Had he sent the emails? I didn't see anything in my inbox this morning.
Ex: They went to the store because they had run out of bread.
Ex: I'd thought it was a good idea, but I was wrong.
To describe actions that were completed at a certain point in the past.
Note: We must uses time expressions such as "by the time" or the adverb -before to express this context with the past perfect.
Examples
Ex: We'd gotten lost in the woods before we reached the cabin.
Ex: Before the Romans invaded, the Gauls had ruled over modern day France.
Ex: By the time Ethan graduated, he had already received numerous job offers.
Ex: Hadn't the company been involved in a scandal before they declared bankruptcy?
Ex: I'd learned 3 languages by the time I turned 25 years old.
Ex: Had they run out of gas before they reached Los Angeles?
Ex: By the time they realized what was going on, the thieves had already gotten away.
Ex: I hadn't ever picked up and instrument before I learned to play the piano
To describe incomplete actions in the past
Note: We must use the adverb before in this context.
Examples
Ex: They let the player go before his contract had finished.
Ex: The online meeting hadn't ended before the power went out.
Ex: We hadn't finished preparing all the food before the guests arrived.
Ex: She passed away before I'd had a chance to say goodbye.
Past perfect in conversation
Making statements in the past perfect tense when the person we are speaking to mentions the past
Note: Statements made in the past perfect must include a second action in the past to compliment the action in the past perfect tense, however in a conversation the past action may be mentioned by the person we are speaking to, in this case it is not necessary to state the second action ourselves
Person 1: John broke up with his girlfriend.
Person 2: I had told him it wouldn't work out.
Person 1: I finally bought a new car.
Person 2: You had needed one for a long time
Person 1: The stock market crashed!
Person 2: I hadn't expected that to happen.
Asking questions in the past perfect tense when the person we are speaking to mentions the past
Person 1: I wasn't able to fix my car.
Person 2: Had you worked on cars before?
Person 1: Mark went back to work for the law firm.
Person 2: Hadn't he said he would never go back?
Person 1: Their house was wrecked during the hurricane.
Person 2: Had they taken precautions before it landed?
Note: Negative questions are usually asked with contractions especially in spoken English.
Note: This is not a complete list of all past time expressions, however it includes many of the most common expressions.