Past perfect aspect article

By Kerry G Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield

Type: Reference material

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An article by Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield on ways to approach teaching the
past perfect aspect.
Introduction Describing a sequence of past events Reporting past events Other uses Past perfect
continuous

Introduction
The perfect aspect usually describes events or states which occur or begin during a past period of time.
The present perfect, as in, e.g.:
I have read your letter.
implies a connection between something that happened in the past and a present moment in time. By
contrast the past perfect, formed from auxiliary had plus a past participle, as in, e.g.:
I had read your letter.
refers to an action or situation which occurred before a particular time in the past, and therefore represents
a connection between something which happened in the past and a past moment in time.
If we want to talk about a past event or situation that happened earlier than a particular time in the past, but
has an effect on that past time, we therefore use the past perfect, e.g.:
She had lost her job and was working as a waitress when I met her.
I didnt go to the film with Adrienne because I had already seen it.
As the examples show, the past perfect usually refers to events or situations which are complete before a
particular past time. However with certain verbs it can sometimes be used to refer to an action or state
which started in the past but still happened or existed at the past moment you are talking about, e.g.:
She wanted to borrow my book but I hadnt finished it.
She was my best friend, I had known her since we were small children.

Describing a sequence of past events

The past perfect is often used with the simple past when describing a sequence of past events.
The simple past form is usually used to describe a sequence of past events in chronological order, e.g.:
Janice and Joan started running the childrens holiday club in September 2003. In July 2003
they moved into the local village hall and spent the summer preparing the rooms. On the 5th
September the club opened for the first time.

However, if we want to refer to an event which happened before one of the past events in the sequence, in
other words, an event which is out of chronological order in the description, we can use the past perfect,
e.g.:
Janice and Joan started running the childrens holiday club in September 2003. They had both given up
their jobs as primary school teachers. In July 2003 they moved into the local village hall and spent the
summer preparing the rooms. On the 5th September the club opened for the first time.
In this second description, the use of the past perfect indicates that Janice and Joan gave up their jobs as
teachers before they started running the club in September 2003. So the actual order of events is:
1.
2.
3.
4.

gave up jobs as teachers

moved into the village hall
spent the summer preparing
the club opened/they started running the club
Whereas the order of events as they are mentioned is:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

started running the club

gave up jobs as teachers
moved into the village hall
spent the summer preparing
the club opened
When it is understood that we are talking about events which occurred before a past event, we dont have
to continue using the past perfect, e.g.:
Janice and Joan started the club in September 2003. Theyd given up their jobs as primary
school teachers and they applied for a grant from the education authority. They got the grant
and started making preparations in July.
would mean the same as:
Janice and Joan started the club in September 2003. Theyd given up their jobs as primary school teachers
and they had applied for a grant
from the education authority. They had got the grant and had started making preparations in July.

Reporting past events

The past perfect is often used to report something that was originally talked about in the present perfect or
past simple, e.g.:
"I think Ive lost my glasses." I thought that I had lost my glasses.
"You havent grown very much." When I last saw Alice I didnt think that she had grown very
much.
The little girl died in the accident. The police reported that the little girl had died in the
accident.
He stole my wallet. He admitted that he had stolen my wallet.
In the same way that the present perfect is often used with just to report events that occurred immediately
before the present time, e.g.:
Your parents have just arrived.
the past perfect is often used with just to talk about events that occurred immediately before a past moment
in time.
I had just started eating dinner when they arrived.

I was feeling really tired because I had just finished work.

Other uses
Just as the past simple is often used to express an unreal situation in the present, e.g.:
Imagine we were rich.
the past perfect is sometimes used to express an unreal situation in the past, e.g:
Suppose you had won the lottery.
The past perfect is often used in unreal conditional sentences to refer to an imaginary past action or state,
e.g.:
If she had taken a taxi, she would have arrived at the airport on time.
You would have passed your exams if you had done more revision.
I would have done your shopping if Id known you were ill.
The past perfect is also often used to talk about things that we intended to do, but for some reason didnt,
e.g.:
I had hoped to visit the Tate Gallery when I was in London, but it was closed.
or things that we intended to do, but because of a particular reason we wont now do in the future, e.g.:
She had planned to cook salmon for the dinner party, but Simon doesnt like it.

Past perfect continuous

The past perfect can combine with the continuous aspect to form the past perfect continuous. The past
perfect continuous is formed from auxiliary had + been + gerund, e.g:
I had been writing a letter.
She had been sleeping.
The past perfect continuous is used to talk about a situation or activity which was in progress up to or just
before a past point in time, e.g.:
Wed been travelling for three hours when the accident happened.
Id been feeling ill all day so I went to bed at 7 oclock.
Whereas the past perfect is used to talk about a finished activity before a past time, the past perfect
continuous is usually used to emphasize the duration of a past activity before a past point in time. In other
words, we can say that the past perfect focuses on the result of a past activity whereas the past perfect
continuous focuses on the process, compare, e.g.:
Id painted the gate and it looked much better. (result - past perfect)
Id been painting the gate and my clothes were all messy (process past perfect continuous).
The past perfect continuous can however be used to talk about a situation or activity that began before a
particular past time and finished at that time or shortly before it, e.g.:
Wed been walking for half an hour when Chris suddenly fell over.

and it is often used to talk about a repeated activity in the past before a past point in time, e.g.:
The doctor had been visiting her every week until his car broke down.
Sometimes the past perfect continuous can be used to talk about a situation or activity that began before a
particular past time and continued beyond it, e.g.:
I couldnt eat any supper because Id been feeling sick all day.
Note that since the continuous aspect focuses on situations in progress, and there is no concept of
progression in verbs which describe states, the past perfect continuous cannot be used with stative senses
of verbs, and the past perfect is used instead. Compare:
Wed been knowing Jackie for three years.
Wed known Jackie for three years.
Note also that the past perfect continuous cannot be used when reference is made to the number of times
an event or situation occurred before a past point in time. In this case the past perfect must be used
instead, compare:
I had been staying at the cottage twice before.
I had stayed at the cottage twice before.Anchor Point:bottom

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Readers' comments (1)

mel tisdale | Thu, 8 Sep 2011 0:18 am

This suffers from the common fault of giving stand-alone sentences with no time reference. Consider the
above: "If she had taken a taxi, she would have arrived at the airport on time." It is said to be imaginary. Not
true if it is discussing someone who on occasions took a taxi and on others did not. I.e. the taking of the taxi
was in the past of the past. Sometimes she was on time, and on others not.
There is a gramar rule that applies, but you never find it in any literature, not even in A Comprehensive
Grammar Of The English Language. Just for fun, construct a mixed first third conditional (they are never in
coursebooks). You will find that the third conditional component is always real, not imaginary.