13 Past Perfect

The Past Perfect is a tense used to talk about actions or events that took place earlier than other past actions, to clarify the idea that something had already happened at the time in the past we are talking about.

We usually find this structure in its three forms:

Affirmative form

The Affirmative form of the verb “to work” has this structure:
Subject + past simple of the auxiliary verb “to have” + past participle.

Negative form

The Negative form of the verb “to work” has this structure:
Subject + past simple of the auxiliary verb “to have” not + past participle.

*Short version of the negative form is: “hadn’t“

Interrogative form

The Interrogative form of the verb “to work” (formed with “inversion”) has this structure:
Past simple of the auxiliary verb “to have” + subject + past participle + (?).

1. Completed actions happening earlier than another past action
   • You had studied English before you worked in the news.
   • He had left a message before he came to my house.
   • We had wrote a note and then left the city.
   • You had not studied English before you worked in the news.
   • Had you studied English before you worked in the news?
2. Specific times in the past
   • I had been in Vietnam for 3 years then I moved to China to work as a postman.
   • She had given an interview in New York in 2005 before she visited Los Angeles in 2006.
   • They had sealed the envelopes in 2011 and they gave them to the customers.
   • She hadn’t given an interview in New York in 2005 before she visited Los Angeles in 2006.
   • Had she given an interview in New York in 2005 before she visited Los Angeles in 2006?
3. Long lasting past actions
   • You had told a joke about him, before he left the hotel.
   • He had worked as courier for 4 years before he died.
   • They had waited for an answer 6 years before their parents told them the truth.
   • You hadn’t told a joke about him, before he left the hotel
   • Had you told a joke about him, before he left the hotel?
4. Third conditional
   • If I had listen to the answer, I would have passed the exams.
   • If he had written an essay, he would have achieved a better grade.
   • If we had posted the mail earlier, she wouldn’t have to come here.
   • If I hadn’t written an essay, I wouldn’t have achieved a better grade.
5. Reported speech
   • You: “I have given the news”, You said you had given the news.
   • Mary: “I have explained everything”, She said she had explained everything.
   • Students: “We have written an essay”, They said that they had written an essay.
   • You: “I haven’t given the news”, You said you hadn’t given the news.
6. Past event, important at the time of reporting
   • I couldn’t make them laugh last night, I had forgot the joke.
   • She had posted a letter then she came back to the house.
   • They had communicated by post at first, later they started to send emails.
   • I could make them laugh last night, I hadn’t forgot the joke.

We use the Past Perfect Tense:

1. To talk about a complete action that happened before something else in the past;
2. When we refer to specific times in the past;
3. To talk about long lasting past actions;
4. With the third conditional;
5. In reported speech;
6. For something that happened in the past but is important at the time of reporting.

We use the Past Perfect to talk about actions or events that took place earlier than other past actions, to clarify the idea that something had already happened at the time in the past we are talking about.

• Affirmative: Subject + past simple of the auxiliary verb “to have” + past participle (e.g. I had worked for 5 years before I resigned.);
• Negative: Subject + past simple of the auxiliary verb “to have” not + past participle (e.g. I hadn’t worked for 5 years before resigned.);
• Interrogative: Past simple of the auxiliary verb “to have” + subject + past participle + question mark (?) (e.g. Had I worked for 5 years before I resigned?).

For example:
— “I had worked for 5 years before I resigned.” = In this sentence there are two different actions that took place in the past. In order to put them in an order, we write the first action in Past Perfect form. We used Past Tense to indicate that the second event happened first.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.