Past Perfect Tense

 

The past perfect is a verb tense used to show that an action took place once or many times before another point in the past.

 

Past Perfect Forms

The past perfect is formed using had + past participle. Questions are indicated by inverting the subject and had. Negatives are made with not.

 

 (+) S + had + past participle (Verb3)

     You had studied English before you moved to New York.

(?) Had + S + past participle (Verb 3)?

    Had you studied English before you moved to New York?

(-) S + had + not + past participle (Verb 3)

    You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

 

Past perfect uses

1.    Completed action in the past

The past perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.

 

Examples:

I had lost my wallet.

He had visited the city several times.

She had read the book.

We had not booked in advance.

 

2.    Duration before something in the past

With non-continuous verbs and some non-continuous uses of mixed verbs, we use the past perfect to show that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past.

Examples:

We had had that car for ten years before it broke down.

He had been in London for over eight years, by the time Alex finished his studies.

They had owned the house for more than forty years before they sold it.

 

 

3.    Experience in the past.

You can use the present perfect to describe experience in the past.

 

Examples:

Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?

I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.

Had you ever visited the U.S. before your trip in 2006?

Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.

She had never seen a bear before she moved to Alaska.