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INGLÉS II

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Formation: auxiliary had + past participle. The auxiliary is often contracted to ’d in the
affirmative.* The negative is hadn’t.

Use: The Past Perfect is a past form of both the Present Perfect and the Simple Past; it is a
kind of double-past. We use it to refer back to something that happened before a particular
time in the past.

Examples:
1) Affirmative: He’d just heard the news when I saw him. (He’d = he had)

2) Interrogative: Had you ever seen the man before he attacked you?

3) Negative: I knew I was going to fail the exam because I hadn’t studied very hard.

Notes: We normally use the Past Perfect when we are not explaining something in
chronological order. In example 1) above, it would be strange to say: He heard the news and
then I saw him.

We often use the conjunction when with the Past Perfect. However, the Past Perfect is not
always necessary, unless the sentence could be ambiguous. For example, in the sentence:
When he finished his breakfast, he read the newspaper
the order of events is clear, and it is not necessary to say: when he had finished .. but if we
change the sentence to:
When he had his breakfast, he read the newspaper,
it is ambiguous.

In fact, this sentence is not possible; if breakfast came first, the sentence should be:
When he had had his breakfast, he read the newspaper.

However, if the two actions were simultaneous, it should be:

While he was having his breakfast, he read the newspaper.

Exercise: Complete the sentences, putting the verb in parentheses in the Past Perfect tense:

1. I went into my son’s room and found that, as usual, he _________________(tidy) it.
2. I knew I _________________ (see) him before, but I couldn’t remember where.
3. I didn’t speak to Paul in the end. – Why not? __________________(he / already / leave)?
4. I was very pleased to see Ruth again. I __________________(see) her for 10 years.
5. He was a bit nervous because it was the first time he _______________ (fly).
Answers:

*
Be careful with the contraction ’d. Sometimes it means had and sometimes would. Compare:
I’d like to be a millionaire. (Would + infinitive)
I didn’t go th the cinema with them because I’d already seen the film. (Had + past participle)