The past perfect tense is the rule in English. Past Perfect - past perfect tense in English

Past Perfect Tense is translated as “past perfect tense.”

We use this tense to say that an action in the past has ended. to or before some time in the past.

For example:

After I watched the series, I went to bed.

What was the first action? First I watched the series and then went to bed. That is by that time, When I went to bed, I had already watched the series.

To show that the first action ended before the second happened, you need to use the past perfect in the first part of the sentence.

In other words, we use the Past Perfect to show the order of actions, that is, what one action in the past happened before another.

Look at the picture:

That is, by the time I watched the film (second act), I had already read the book (first act).

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As you can see, it is not difficult to understand and remember this time. Now let's figure out how to correctly form such sentences.

Formation of Past Perfect tense in English

The Past Perfect tense is formed using had(this is the past tense form of the verb have) and the past tense verb.

Verbs in the past tense

There are regular and irregular verbs in English. Depending on the verb, this form is formed as follows:

• if the verb is correct, then we add the ending -ed to it: cook - cooked, finish - finished.
• if the verb is irregular, then we put it in the 3rd form: do - done, eat - eaten

There is no rule by which we can determine the correct or irregular verb in front of us. You can only find out by looking it up in a dictionary or memorizing it.

The same is true with forms of irregular verbs. You need to memorize them or look them up in the dictionary.

Past Perfect tense formation scheme:

Actor + had + regular verb ending -ed or 3rd form of irregular verb

Important: Usually The past perfect tense is used in complex sentences consisting of two parts. Moreover, we use the Past Perfect in the part of the sentence that talks about an action that happened first (before another).

In the other part, the Past Simple tense is most often used - past simple.

The two parts of the sentence are connected by the words:

after- after
before- before
when- When
by the time- by that time

She had done her homework before he called.
She had done her homework before he called.

After they had eaten breakfast they went to work.
After breakfast, they went to work.

Abbreviations

We can shorten had in a sentence. It will look like this:

had = 'd

I 'd cooked dinner when they arrived.
I prepared dinner when they arrived.

Negative sentences in the Past Perfect in English

To make a sentence negative, you need to add the negative particle not to the auxiliary verb had.

The outline of such a proposal would be:

Actor + had + not + regular verb ending -ed or 3rd form of irregular verb

He had not worked before he graduated an university.
He didn't work until he graduated from university.

We had not read the book before we went to bed.
We didn't read this book before we went to bed.

Reduction

We can shorten had and not like this:

had + not = hadn’t

For example:

I hadn't called him before he wrote me.
I didn't call him before he wrote.

Interrogative sentences with Past Perfect in English

To form an interrogative sentence, you need to put the auxiliary verb had in first place. The outline of such a proposal would be:

Had + character + regular verb ending -ed or 3rd form of irregular verb?

Had they finished work before they left?
Did they finish their work before leaving?

Had he drunk coffee before he went to work?
Did he drink coffee before he went to work?

So, we've covered the theory, and now let's move on to practice.

Reinforcement task

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. I watched TV after I read the book.
2. She had breakfast before going to school.
3. They got married before they bought the house.
4. When the rain stopped, we went for a walk.
5. We went to the cinema after we had dinner.
6. He went home after finishing work.

Quite often, tenses in English for many become But in fact, everything is quite simple: you just need to sit down, understand the rules and read more texts.

Past Perfect: what kind of time is this?

This is the so-called pre-past tense, when the entire action takes place in the past, but ends before a certain moment or the beginning of another action (or event) also in the past. In other words, this is everything that has already happened, before something else happened (which also managed to end). Everything refers to a certain time or moment, already lived and past. Typically, in the Past Perfect, the rules provide for the use of several adverbs showing an earlier event: never, ever, yet, already. Example: By the time Julia arrived at the building, Mary had already left. - By the moment Juliya got to the building, Mary had already left.

Past Perfect: rules of education

Everything is very simple here. To use this time, you just need to take the second have (already familiar had) and the third form of the verb necessary for the meaning (that is, past participle). For regular verbs, it is formed by simply adding an ending -ed, for incorrect ones, it is taken from the dictionary and memorized.

1. Affirmative form: I/You/She/They/He had read it.
2. Negative form: I/She/He/You/They had not (hadn’t) read it.
3. Interrogative form: Had I/You/She/He/They read it?

Past Perfect: rules and examples of use

There are two options here that you should always consider and not forget about

1. If the action being described took place before a certain point in the past. Example: By 2000, she had become a world famous singer. - By 2000 she had become a world-famous singer. Thus, a starting point is immediately set and it is indicated that it achieved success precisely by 2000 and not earlier (that is, a certain event or time took place in the past).
2. If an event or action occurred before another action began, also in the past. The past perfect (the rules say this) is used precisely to describe the event that happened earlier. What happened later is described by Example: She didn't want to go to the cinema with us yesterday because she had already seen The Lord of the Rings. - She didn’t want to go to the cinema with us yesterday, because she had already seen “The Lord of the Rings”. In this case, the adverb used immediately demonstrates which of the described actions and events occurred before the other.

Difference from other past tenses

Past Perfect (the rules of its formation are very simple and logical) differs from other tenses, such as Past Simple, (the rules of their formation are also quite easy: the first is formed by a simple change of the verb and means a simple action that took place in the past, without any pitfalls; the second shows that an event or action happened in the past, but ended exactly at the specified moment in the present or is ending only now. Formed by using the form of the verb. have in the present tense and the semantic verb necessary for the sentence), and it is quite easy to grasp this difference. To do this, you should not only learn the form of education, but also think about the meaning of the sentence as a whole in order to grasp its logic and meaning, and not translate word by word. In the latter case, the words will simply be mixed up, and there will be no understanding of the text. However, with a thoughtful approach to English grammar, difficulties with understanding both written text and spoken language will not arise.

Education Past Perfect Tense

1. Past Perfect is formed using the auxiliary verb to have in the form of the past tense (had) and the form of the past participle (Past Participle) of the semantic verb: I had worked, he had worked.
2. In the interrogative form, the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject: Had I worked? Had he worked?
3. The negative form is formed using the particle not, which is placed after the auxiliary verb: I had not worked, he had not worked.
4. In the interrogative-negative form, the negation not is placed immediately after the subject: Had I not worked? Had he not worked?

The following abbreviations are commonly used in colloquial speech:

Time Past Perfect formed using an auxiliary verb to have in the past tense and the past participle of the significant verb, that is, its “third form”.

To have in the past tense has a single form had.

Second participle or past participle ( Participle II), can be obtained by adding the ending to the initial form of a significant verb -ed:

examine - examin ed, enjoy - enjoy ed,close-close ed

However, in English there is also a fairly large group of irregular verbs that do not form the past tense according to general rules.

IN interrogative sentence The auxiliary verb is placed in front of the subject, and the significant verb remains after it:

Had you brushed your teeth before you went to bed?
Did you brush your teeth before going to bed?

IN negative sentences the auxiliary verb is followed by a negative particle not. In doing so, they can be reduced to the form hadn't.

How did you hope to pass the exam if you had not (hadn't) even opened the textbook?
How did you expect to pass the exam if you hadn’t even opened your textbook before?

Cases of using Past Perfect:

1. When there is an indication of the point in time at which an action in the past ended:
By 9 o"clock we"d finished the work.
By 9 o'clock we finished work.
She had written only two letters by noon.
By noon she had written only 2 letters.

2. When an action in the past took place before another action:
When you arrived, he had just left.
When you arrived, he had just left.
He had worked at the university for thirty years before he retired.
He worked at the university for 30 years before retiring.

3. In indirect speech to convey the present perfect and simple past tense:
He said he had studied English for two years. (He said: "I have studied English for two years.")
He said he has been studying English for two years.
She said she had published her first story 10 years before. (She said: "I published my first story 10 years ago.")
She said she published her first story 10 years ago.

She had written a letter by 5 o"clock on Saturday.
- She had not written a letter by 5 o"clock on Saturday.
? Had he written a letter by 5 o"clock on Saturday?
Yes, he had. No, he had not. (No, he hadn't.)

4. To denote actions that began before a specified moment in the past and continue until that moment. Usually such actions are expressed using Past Perfect Continuous, but used with static verbs Past Perfect. In this case, the period of time during which the action took place must be indicated:

I felt as if I had known her all my - I had a feeling like

life. as if I had known her all my life.

We went to see Mr Fennel who - We went to see Mr. Fennell,

hadbeen a widower for two years. who had been a widower for two years.

5. To express unfulfilled hopes, desires, etc., relating to both the past, present and even future tense:

I had hoped we could leave - I was hoping that we could leave

tomorrow but it’s beginning to tomorrow, but it seems it's becoming

look difficult. not easy (about a future event).

I had intended to make a cake but - I was going to make a cake, but

I ran out of time. didn’t have time (about a past event).

6.In subordinate tenses to express an action that is future in relation to past events and must occur before the beginning of the event expressed by the main sentence:

Not decided he wouldn't look at- He decided that he would not watch

his watch till he had read 30 pages. on the clock until it reads 30

Past Perfect not used:

1) when we are talking about the immediate sequence of events in the past, especially about the immediate reaction of people:

I got a real shock when I opened - I got really scared when

the box. opened the box.

2) when describing short sequential actions performed by different persons:

When I put the cat out he ran - When I put the cat out, he ran away

away to the bushes. into the bushes.

3) in subordinate clauses relating to sentences where the predicate is expressed by a verb in Past Perfect:

He told me that someone had - He told me that someone called

phoned when I was out. when I wasn't there.

Pivot table

So, let's summarize the word formation in THE PAST PERFECT TENSE.

4.1. Affirmative form:

I had come - I came
He had come - He came
She had come - She came
It had come - He, she, it, it came (about inanimate objects)
We had come - We came
You had come - You came, you came
They had come - They came

4.2. Interrogative form:

Had I come? - I came?
Had he come? - He came?
Had she come? - She came?
Had it come? - He, she, it, did it come? (about inanimate objects)
Had we come? - We came?
Had you come? - You came? You come?
Had they come? - They came?

4.3. Negative form:

I had not come - I didn’t come
He had not come - He did not come
She had not come - She did not come
It had not come - He, she, it, it did not come (about inanimate objects)
We had not come - We did not come
You had not come - You didn’t come, you didn’t come
They had not come - They did not come

Use of THE PAST PERFECT TENSE

The main and most common cases of using Past Perfect:
1. When expressing actions that have already ended at a specified point in time in the past. Usually, these actions are expressed by the exact date, hour, etc.:

They had finished our work by seven o"clock. - They (already) finished their work by seven o'clock.

2. When expressing actions that preceded another action in the past:

She had written two articles, when the door was open and Bill Clinton comes in the room.
She had written two articles when the door swung open and Bill Clinton walked into the room.

How to get out of the past and return to an earlier past? It is not a time machine that comes to the rescue, as one might initially think, but a solution that is much simpler and more interesting at the same time: Past Perfect Simple - Past Perfect, which is studied in grades 6-7.

General information

There are three tenses in English: Past (past), Present (present) and Future (future). In this regard, the Russian language is in solidarity with its fellow language. But there are also differences between them - temporary forms. Depending on what kind of action we have before us - regular, long-term or completed, in each of the three times four aspects are distinguished: Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous.

Today the focus is on the rules for using Past Perfect Simple - Past Perfect tense.

Past Perfect rules and examples

If it seems that the work is easy to do, then it certainly turns out to be difficult. And vice versa - complex problems always have simple solutions. This unwritten rule also applies to the Past Perfect. It is not as complicated as it seems. The first thing to remember is that this tense is never used independently. It always “works” cohesively, side by side with another action in the past, and indicates that the action expressed by it occurred before another action or before a certain time. Let's look at two examples:

• We came to the bus stop and the bus left - We came to the bus stop and the bus left.
• We came to the bus stop, but the bus had left - We came to the bus stop, but the bus left.

Before using one or another temporary form, it is necessary to understand what happened first and what happened second, or whether two actions occurred simultaneously. In the first case, we managed to get on the bus we needed and use the Past Simple (Simple Past), that is, the events in this sentence happened sequentially one after another. In the second example, we were late and did not catch the bus we needed - it had already left. In other words, the action happened before we came, and therefore the Past Perfect form is used here.

Cases of use

There are other, less common cases of using the tense form Past Perfect:

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• To explain the reason for what happened : the action expressed by the predicate verb in the Past Perfect tense form is the “culprit” of what happened later (He was not able to buy a new book as he had lost his credit car - He could not buy a new book because he lost my credit card);
• To describe your past experiences (By the time I bought my new flat I had worked hard for several years - By the time I bought my new apartment, I had worked hard for several years).

Time markers

Past Perfect time markers include the following circumstances, conjunctions and prepositions:

• By the time - by the time (By the time they came home, my mother had baked an apple pie - By the time they returned home, mine baked an apple pie);
• After - after a certain moment (She fell asleep after I had left her - She fell asleep after I left her);
• Before - until a certain point (She had never been to London before she came here last month - She had never been to London before she came here last month);
• When - when (The train had left when he arrived at the station - The train left when it arrived at the station);
• Just - just (When she entered the room I had just heard the news - When she entered the room, I just heard the news);
• Already - already (I had already finished with my dinner when he knocked on the door - I had already prepared dinner when he knocked on the door);
• Yet - yet (She moved to another city but she had not told her parents about it yet - She moved to another city, but has not yet told her parents about it);
• For - during (He thought that he was not able to drive a car anymore because he had not driven it for 20 years - He thought that he could no longer drive a car, because he had not driven it for 20 years)
• Since - since then (Her new book was wonderful because she had worked on it since last year - Her new book was wonderful because she had been working on it since last year).

The adverbs yet (yet), just (just now), already (already) are a common feature for the two tenses Present Perfect (Present Perfect) and Past Perfect (Past Perfect).

Formation of the affirmative form

The temporary form Past Perfect (Past Perfect) is formed according to a certain pattern: had + Participle II(Past participle or third form of the verb). Regular verbs form Participle II (Past Participle) using the ending - ed: to use - used (use - used). If the verb belongs to the group of irregular verbs, then the required form must be taken from the third column of the table of irregular verbs: I had opened (I opened), she had studied (she taught), we had bought (we bought).

Negation

The negative form of the Past Perfect is formed using a negative particle not (not) which is placed between the auxiliary verb had And Participle II(Past participle):

I had not opened (I did not open), she had not studied (she did not teach), we had not bought (we did not buy).

Question

In an interrogative sentence in English, the word order changes. In the Past Perfect tense, the auxiliary verb comes first in the question had, followed by the subject (pronoun or noun) and the main verb, expressed Participle II (Past Participle):

Had I opened? (did I open it?), Had she studied? (did she teach?), Had we bought? (we bought?).

In special questions, the scheme is preserved with the only difference - in the first place are question words (Who? - Who?; What? - What?; Which? - Which?; When? - When?; Where? - Where?; Where? - Where? ; Why? - Why?; How? - How much? - How much?): What had I opened? (What did I discover?), Where had she studied? (Where did she study?), When had we bought? (When did we buy?).

What have we learned?

Today we were introduced to the Past Perfect, which is one of the tense forms of the past tense in English, and denotes an action in the past that preceded another action in the past. We also learned about its features, when it is used in a sentence and with what time markers.

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Past Perfect is one of the forms of the past tense, denoting an event that happened at a certain moment before another action began.

The very existence of this grammatical phenomenon is a vivid example of how ordered the English language is, how important the sequence of completed events is within the framework of its type-time paradigm. As shown in the diagram below, the action expressed in this tense occurs before some other action in the past.

Also, instead of action 2, there may be some point in time in the past, before which some event occurred, as shown in the following example:

Methods of forming Past Perfect

Affirmative sentences

In order to get a statement in the Past Perfect, you need the verb had and the 3rd form of the main verb (V3). The ending - ed is added to the regular verb, and if the verb is irregular, its form is taken from the 3rd column (Participle II).

Below is a table with an example where you can observe the construction of this past tense form.

It is worth noting that abbreviations are common. In statements, had is combined with using an apostrophe (‘)

She had = She'd

I had = I'd

We had = We'd

Below are examples of the use of verbs in the Past Perfect, both in full and in shortened form.

Negative type of sentences

Negative sentences are formed by adding not between had and the semantic verb. In this case, the words are arranged in the same order as in the affirmative.

Abbreviated forms in speech are used much more often than full ones. To shorten, you need to combine the auxiliary verb had with the particle not using an apostrophe (’), as shown below:

I had = I hadn’t

You had = You hadn’t

She had = She hadn’t

Below are examples of the use of verbs in the Past Perfect, both in full and in shortened forms of negative types of sentences.

Interrogative sentences

In interrogative sentences, the word order will be reversed. As you can see in the table below, the auxiliary verb had should come first, then the subject, and then the semantic verb V3:

The following table shows examples of using the Past Perfect in interrogative sentences. You can also observe that the word order is reversed everywhere:

Using the Past Perfect

1. Most often Past Perfect means an event in the past that happened before some other action. This subsequent action often occurs in the Simple Past.

We drove up to the opera house, but the performance had finished. – We arrived at the opera house, but the performance had already ended. (first the performance ended, then we arrived at the opera house).

2.Past Perfect denotes an event, which happened in the past at the designated time. In this case, the very moment at which the action was completed will be indicated. In the example below, this point is indicated by by:

Matt had finished repairing the car by 9 o’clock. – Mat finished repairing the car by 9 o’clock. (repair was completed by the time the clock was 9)

3.Sometimes the Past Perfect indicates that an event expressed in this tense is the cause of another, subsequent action or state.

She was happy. She had received lots of gifts. - She was happy. She received many gifts.

She didn’t invite him for dinner as she had burnt the chicken in the oven. “She didn’t invite him to dinner because she burned the chicken in the oven.”

4.Using Past Perfect denotes a continuous action that began earlier and continued for some time. In this case, the prepositions since and for are most often used, which are translated as “since” and “during”, respectively.

He died last Monday. We had remembered him since he was a toddler. “He died last Monday.” We remembered him since he was a one-year-old baby.

She was a talented violinist. We had loved her playing for 10 years. – She was a talented violinist. We enjoyed her playing for 10 years.

It should be noted that the Past Perfect in this case is used only with that express emotions and perception. For example, love, know, adore, think, feel, regret, etc. With dynamic verbs, the Past Perfect Continuous is necessary to express duration.

Ben retired on July, 2. This dude had been coaching us for 10 years. – Ben retired on the second of July. This guy worked as our coach for 10 years.

5. In conditional sentences of the third type Past Perfect used to express regret about something that did not happen. Something in the past could have been done if the condition had been met, but at the present moment it is no longer possible to influence the situation.

If I had met Harry, I would have given a hug to him. “If I met Harry, I would hug him.”

If she had ironed her dress, her parents would have given her some more funds. If she had ironed her dress, her parents would have given her more money.

6. In sentences that use words such as hardly... when and no sooner... than, Past Perfect denotes a sequence of events. The use of this tense emphasizes that one action happened immediately after another. Such constructions are translated using the expressions “didn’t have time...”, “as soon as...”, “barely...”. In sentences of this type the opposite is true.

Hardly had Jens gone out, when somebody threw a stone to his head. Jens had barely left when someone threw a stone at his head.

No sooner had Tony sunk into the sea water than the funny dolphin was seen nearby. – Before Tony had time to dive into the sea water, a funny dolphin appeared nearby.

Use of time adverbs

Past Perfect is used with the following time markers:

• by(at some time/moment)
  Kate had smoked 10 cigarettes by the moment they came (Kate smoked 10 cigarettes by the time they came);
• after(after)
  After he had lost 10 pounds, he changed the size of his clothes (After he lost 10 pounds, he changed the size of his clothes);
• before(before/before)
  Before I came home, I had delayed at college to help the tutor (Before I came home, I stayed in college to help the teacher);
• when(When)
  Molly had crossed the brook when the dog looked at her (Molly crossed the brook when the dog looked at her);
• earlier(earlier)
  I didn’t know where my boyfriend was as he had snaffled my money earlier (I had no idea where my boyfriend was, since he stole my money earlier);
• just(just now)
  It was 7 p.m. and she had just taken the shower (It was 7 o'clock in the evening and she had just taken a shower);
• already(already)
  They were going for that city as she had already got a new job (They moved to that city because she had already found a new job);
• yet(still, already)
  They arranged the party but they hadn’t brought the drinks yet (They organized the party, but haven’t brought the drinks yet).

Also used with markers such as yet, already and just. It is necessary to understand that when using the Past Perfect, the speaker refers to the past, and the Present Perfect denotes an event that happened in the past, but its consequences affect the present.

I have written 7 poems already. – I have already written 7 poems. (I already have 7 written poems)

By the moment I lost my vision, I had written 7 poems already. – By the time I lost my sight, I had already written 7 poems. (I had already written 7 poems, and then I lost my sight).

Cases of replacing Past Perfect with Past Simple

At the moment, there is a tendency to replace Past Perfect with Past Simple if the order of actions is obvious from the context. Most often this happens in . Sentences like these use different time markers.

• after (after)

After she had washed the walls in the bathroom, she peeled the vegetables for a salad. = After she washed the walls in the bathroom, she peeled the vegetables for a salad.
After she washed the bathroom walls, she peeled the vegetables for the salad.

• before (before/before)

I had visited my cousin once before I left for Hungary. = I visited my cousin once before I left for Hungary.
I visited my cousin once before I left for Hungary.

• earlier (earlier),

I helped my neighbors though I was incensed by them as they had crashed my motorbike earlier. = I helped my neighbors though I was incensed by them as they crashed my motorbike earlier.
I helped mine neighbors, Although was Very angry on them, That's why What They smashed my moped.

But: If the conjunction when is used in a sentence, changing the tense is not possible, as the meaning will change.

When we hauled our bags to the hotel, Mary had checked in. – When we brought the bags to the hotel, Mary had already checked in.
(Past Perfect means Mary checked in before we even brought our bags to the hotel)

When we hauled our bags to the hotel, Mary checked in. – When we brought our bags to the hotel, Mary checked in.
(Past Simple shows that we brought our bags to the hotel first, and then Mary checked in)

At first glance, this time seems difficult. It is important to remember the basic principle - the Past Perfect is where two actions occurred sequentially. The one that happened before is expressed in the Past Perfect, and the one that happened after it is expressed in the Past Simple.

In addition, this tense indicates that some past event has ended at some point. In order to make it easier to understand in what cases this tense is used, it is necessary to remember the markers that are used with the Past Perfect, study the structure of sentences, and also visualize the sequence of actions.

And in order to finally consolidate the material and put everything “on the shelves,” we recommend watching the video:

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