Description: War Thunder is a next generation military MMO game dedicated to...
past perfect formed with the help to had in past tense form ( had- for all persons) and the past participle of the semantic verb: I / he had written. Past Participle (participle) of regular verbs is formed by adding the ending to the infinitive –ed: to invite- invite ed. When added to a verb –ed sometimes there are changes in its spelling: to stop - stopp ed. Past Participle of irregular verbs must be remembered: to tell-told-told. Additionally about.
Abbreviated forms:
‘d= had
hadn't= had not
Using the Past Perfect
1. An action that took place before another action in the past. Indicated by the notation of time ( by Monday - by Monday, by evening - by evening, by 3 o'clock - by 3 o'clock, by that time - by that time) or other (later) actions expressed by time .
Examples: I had came to them by 5 o'clock. I came to them at 5 o'clock.
I had translated the text by Wednesday. – I translated the text by Wednesday.
my parents were glad to hear that I had passed all exams. My parents were happy to hear that I passed all the exams. (first I passed the exams - Past Perfect is used, and then my parents heard about it - Past Simple is used, i.e. one action happened before another)
my sister said that I had given her wrong address. My sister said I gave her the wrong address. (at first I gave my sister the wrong address - Past Perfect is used, and then the sister said that the address was wrong - Past Simple is used, that is, one action happened before the other)
2. An action that began up to a certain moment in the past and lasted until that moment. Past Perfect is used most often with verbs that are not used in the Continuous form. Additionally about.
Examples: When Sally arrived to the party, her friends had been there for half an hour. When Sally came to the party, her friends had already been there for half an hour.
3. Verbs in the Past Perfect can express two or more previous actions, and one of them can precede the other.
Examples: She said that she had drawn the money from her account and (had) sent them to her sister. She said she had withdrawn money from her account and sent it to her sister. (action expressed by the verb had drawn precedes the action expressed by the verb had sent)
4. If two or more past actions are transmitted in the sequence in which they occurred (i.e., actions are listed), the Past Simple form is used.
Examples: He entered room, took something from the desk and went out. He entered the room, took something from the desk and left. (here the verbs entered, took, went out denote a chain of actions that followed one after another, so they are expressed using Past Simple)
5. If the sequence of actions is interrupted by a mention of previously completed actions, then such previously completed actions are used in the Past Perfect.
Examples: He entered the room which he had reserved the day before, took something from the desk and went out. He entered the room he had booked the day before, took something from the desk and left. (here the verbs entered, took, went out denote a chain of actions that followed the bottom after another, so they are expressed using the Past Simple. These actions are interrupted by the verb had reserved- an action that happened earlier, therefore Past Perfect is used here)
The past perfect tense or Past Perfect Tense is another complex tense form of the English language that describes events in the past tense. Since there is no analogue to this form in Russian, efforts must be made to understand its essence and assimilate it. Meaning of Past Perfect Tense What is Past Perfect Tense?
The Past Perfect tense indicates a past action that either preceded another action in the past or ended before a specific point in the past tense. For obvious reasons, it is also called "prepast".
Trace the difference between "past" and "prepast" tense in the following example:
- I was late. They had gone without me. (I was late. They left without me.)
As you can see, in these sentences in English, different tenses are used, while in Russian they are the same. In the first Past Simple. In the second Past perfect, because the action preceded the action in the first sentence. → They had already left without me before I arrived.
The past perfect tense is most often found in narratives and mainly in complex sentences.
Subl. + had + Past Participle …
The interrogative form is formed by placing the auxiliary verb to have in the Past Simple Tense (had) in the first place before the subject.
Had + Gen. + Past Participle ???
The negative form is formed using the negation not, which is placed after the auxiliary verb had and in colloquial speech merges with it into one whole:
- had not - hadn't
Subl. + had + not + Past Participle …
Conjugation table of the verb to grow in Present Perfect Tense
| Number | Face | affirmative form | Interrogative form | negative form |
| Unit h. | 1
2 3 |
I had (I "d) grown You had (you "d) grown He/ She/ It had (He "d/ She'd) grown |
Had I grown? Had you grown? Had he/she/it grown? |
I had not (hadn't) grown You had not (hadn't) grown He/ She/ It had not (hadn't) grown |
| Mn. h. | 1
2 3 |
We had (we "d) grown You had (you "d) grown They had (they "d) grown |
Had we grown? Had you grown? Had they grown? |
We had not (hadn't) grown You had not (hadn't) grown They had not (hadn't) grown |
Past Perfect Tense is used:
1. To express a past action that took place before a certain moment in the past with adverbial words that indicate the time by which the action was completed:
- by then
- by that time
- by Friday - by Friday
- by 9 o'clock - by 9 o'clock
- by the 21th of November
- by the end of the year
- They had written their compositions by Friday - They wrote their compositions by Friday
- Bill had done the work by the time his parents returned - Bill finished work by the time his parents returned
- I had finished the project by the end of the year - I finished the project by the end of the year
The point before which the action was completed can be determined by the context. For example:
- In the club I met Jim who had gone to the same college - In the club I met Jim, with whom we went to college together
Past Perfect in a compound sentence 2. In complex sentences, to express a past action that preceded another action in the past, expressed by a verb in the Past Simple. As a rule, such sentences include subordinate clauses of time after conjunctions:
- when - when
- after - after
- before
- until - until
- as soon as - as soon as
- Nick had finished his work before his boss came in - Nick finished work before his boss came in
- As soon as Nick had finished his work the door opened and his boss came in - As soon as he finished work, the door opened and the boss came in
- When I had made breakfast I rang him up - When I cooked breakfast, I called him
3. To express actions that began before a specified moment in the past and continue up to this moment. In the sentence, as a rule, there are circumstances of time that indicate the period during which the action took place:
- for a long time - for a long time
- for three years (hours, months, days) - within three years (hours, months, days)
- since - since, since then
- He realized he had been in love with her for a long time - He realized that he had been in love with her for a long time
- They had owned the house for twenty years when they decided to sell it - They had owned the house for twenty years when they decided to sell it
- He told me he had been badly ill since he returned from the South - He told me that he had been very ill since he returned from the South
4. To express intentions, desires, hopes that did not come true. Usually with verbs:
- expect - expect
- hope - hope
- want - want
- think - to think
- We had hoped we could visit them tomorrow but it's beginning to look difficult - I hoped that we could visit them tomorrow, but it seems that it will not be easy.
- She had intended to cook a dinner but she ran out of time - She was going to cook dinner, but did not have time
5. In subordinate clauses time, the action of which is future in relation to past events. This action must precede the action in the main clause. In this case, Past Perfect Tense is translated into the future tense. Examples:
- I promised that I would go home after I had done all my work - I promised that I would come home after I had done all my work
- She decided she wouldn't do anything till he had explained the situation - She decided that she would not do anything until he explained the situation
The past perfect tense is not easy to learn right away. It takes a lot of practice to master this material well.
Check out the following videos that you might be interested in:
Simple and clear explanation with examples of Past Perfect Tense (Past Complete Tense)
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 its species-temporal paradigm. As shown in the diagram below, an action expressed in this tense occurs before some other action in the past.
Also, instead of action 2, there can be some point in time in the past before which some event occurred, as shown in the following example:
Ways to form Past Perfect
Affirmative type 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 correct verb, and if the verb is incorrect, 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 form of the past tense.
| Structure | Subject (Who what?) | HAD | V3 (V+ed/Participle II) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheme | ☺ | had | V3 | |
| Example | Mom | had | painted | the wall by 5 o'clock. |
| Translation | Mother | dyed | wall by 5 o'clock. |
It is worth noting that there are often abbreviations. In statements, had is combined with 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 abbreviated form.
| Full form | Short form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| I had read. | I'd read. | I read. |
| He had smoked. | He'd smoked. | He smoked. |
| She had written. | She'd written. | She wrote. |
| It had flown. | It'd flown. | It flew away. |
| We had broken. | We'd be broken | We broke. |
| You had rung. | You'd drunk. | You called. |
| They had invented. | They'd come. | They invented. |
Negative sentence type
Negative type 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.
| Structure | Subject (Who what?) | HAD | V3 (V+ed/Participle II) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheme | ☺ | had not | V3 | |
| Example | Mom | had not | painted | the wall by 5 o'clock. |
| Translation | Mother | not | dyed | wall by 5 o'clock. |
Abbreviated forms in speech are used much more often than full ones. To shorten it, 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 in both full and abbreviated form of negative types of sentences.
| Full form | Short form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| I had not put. | I hadn't put. | I didn't put it. |
He had not blown. | He hadn't blown. | He didn't pout. |
She had not learned. | She hadn't learned. | She didn't learn. |
It had not flown. | It hadn't flown. | It didn't fly away. |
We had not broken. | We hadn't broken. | We didn't break. |
You weren't drunk. | You hadn't drunk. | You didn't drink. |
They had not invented. | They hadn't invented. | They didn't invent. |
Interrogative sentences
In interrogative sentences, the word order is reversed. As can be seen in the table below, the auxiliary verb had should come first, then the subject, and then the semantic verb V3:
| Structure | HAD | Subject (Who what?) | V3 (V+ed/Participle II) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheme | Had | ☺ | V3 | ? |
| Example | Had | Mom | painted | the wall by 5 o'clock? |
| Translation | Did you paint | Mother | wall by 5 o'clock. |
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 is often 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 by which the action is completed will be indicated. In the following example, this moment is denoted by by:
Matt had finished repairing the car by 9 o'clock. Matt finished repairing the car by 9 o'clock. (repair was completed by the time the clock read 9)
3. Sometimes Past Perfect indicates that an event expressed in this time 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 lasted until some time. In this case, the prepositions since and for are most often used, which are translated as “since” and “during”, respectively.
He deceased last Monday. We had remembered him since he was a toddler. He passed away last Monday. We have 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 game for 10 years.
It should be noted that the Past Perfect in this case is used only with those that express emotions, perception. For example, love, know, adore, think, feel, regret, etc. With dynamic verbs, 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 has been our coach for 10 years.
5. In conditional sentences of the third type Past Perfect used to express regret for something that didn't 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 where words such as hardly ... when and no sooner ... than are used, Past Perfect denotes a sequence of events. The use of this tense emphasizes that one action happened immediately after another. Similar constructions are translated using the expressions “did not 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. As soon as Jens left, someone threw a stone at his head.
No sooner had Tony sunk into the sea water than the funny dolphin was seen nearby. - No sooner had Tony dive into the sea water than a funny dolphin appeared nearby.
The use of circumstances of time
Past Perfect is used with the following time markers:
- by(to some time/moment)
Kate had smoked 10 cigarettes by the moment they came (Kate had smoked 10 cigarettes by the time they arrived); - 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 - when(when)
Molly had crossed the brook when the dog looked at her (Molly crossed the stream when the dog looked at her); - earlier(before)
I didn't know where my boyfriend was as he had snaffled my money earlier - just(just now)
It was 7 p.m. and she had just taken the shower (It was 7 pm 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 a party, but they hadn't brought the drinks yet).
Markers such as yet, already and just also use . It must be understood 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 poems written)
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 already wrote 7 poems, and then I lost my sight).
Cases of replacing Past Perfect with Past Simple
AT this moment there is a tendency to replace Past Perfect with Past Simple if the sequence of actions is obvious from the context. Most often this happens in . These sentences 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 scrubbed the walls in the bathroom, she cleaned 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 cousin once before leaving 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 the them,
because what they smashed my moped.
But: If the union when (when) is used in the sentence, the replacement of time is not possible, since 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 dragged our bags to the hotel)
When we hauled our bags to the hotel, Mary checked in. - When we dragged the bags to the hotel, Mary checked in.
(Past Simple shows that first we dragged the bags to the hotel, and then Mary checked in)
At first glance, this time seems difficult. It is important to remember the basic principle - Past Perfect is where two actions have occurred in succession. The one that happened before is expressed in the Past Perfect, and what happened after it is expressed in the Past Simple.
In addition, this time indicates that some past event has ended by some point. To make it easier to understand when to use given time, you need 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 fix the material and put everything “on the shelves”, we recommend watching the video:
If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.
Quite often, times in English become for many. But in fact, everything is quite simple: you just need to sit, understand the rules and read more texts.
Past Perfect: what is this time
This is the so-called past tense, when all the action takes place in the past, but ends before a certain moment or the beginning of another action (or event) is also in the past. In other words, this is everything that has already happened, before something else happened (which also had time to end). Everything refers to a certain time or moment, already lived and past. Usually, 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: education rules
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, the past participle). For regular verbs, it is formed by simply adding the ending -ed, for incorrect ones, it is taken in the dictionary and memorized.
- Affirmative form: I/You/She/They/He had read it.
- Negative form: I/She/He/You/They had not (hadn't) read it.
- 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
- If the described action 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 she achieved success precisely by the year 2000 and not earlier (that is, a certain event or time takes place in the past).
- If an event or action happened before the start of another action, it is also in the past. The past perfect (the rules say so) 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". At the same time, the adverb used immediately demonstrates which of the described actions and events happened before the other.
Difference from other past tenses
Past Perfect (the rules for its formation are very simple and logical) differs from other times, such as Past Simple, (the rules for their formation are also quite easy: the first is formed by a simple change in the verb and means a simple action that took place in the past, without any pitfalls; the second shows that the event or action happened in the past, but ended exactly at the specified moment in the present, or is completed only now.It is 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 catch this difference. To do this, one should not only learn the form of education, but also think about the meaning of the sentence as a whole in order to capture its logic and meaning, and not translate word by word. AT last case words will simply mix up, and there will be no understanding of the text. However, with a thoughtful approach to English grammar, there will be no difficulty in understanding both written text and spoken language.
Past perfect - Past Perfect
Designations: + statement, ? question, - negation.
| + | ? | - | |||||||
| ... had + III. | Had ... +III? | ... had not + III. | |||||||
| I | had painted. | Had | I | painted? | I | had not painted. | |||
| You | you | You | |||||||
| We | we | We | |||||||
| They | they | They | |||||||
| He | he | He | |||||||
| She | she | She | |||||||
| It | it | It | |||||||
Abbreviations: I had = I "d, you had = you" d, we had = we "d, they had = they" d, he had = he "d, she had = she" d, it had = X, had not = hadn"t ().
-ed pronounced according to the following rules:
1. [d]- after vowels and voiced consonants:
[b], [?], [v], [ð], [z], [?], , [m], [n], [?], [l], [j], [w], [ r]; except [d] (item 3)
2. [t]- after voiceless consonants:
[p], [k], [f], [θ], [s], [?], [h], ; except [t] (item 3)
3. [?d]- after sounds [d] and [t]
Note: About sounds - in the material "Sounds of the English language. Phonetic notes".
Using the Past Perfect
1. Past Perfect is an action that ended up to a certain point in the past. The period can be defined:a. Circumstance of time.
By Tuesday she had already prepared for the journey. By Wednesday, she had already prepared for the trip.
In such sentences, the expression by + time (to which the action took place) is used.
by midnight
by six o "clock
by Friday
by the 20 th of June
by the end of the month
by then/by that time
by that moment
and etc.
b. Another, later past action, expressed in Past Simple.
When I looked out of the window the rain had already started. When I looked out the window, it was already raining.
in. context or situation.
He showed me the ring he had bought for her. He showed me the ring he bought for not.
2. Past Perfect is often used instead of Past Perfect Continuous to express an action that began before a certain moment in the past and was still going on at that moment. It is used with verbs that are not used in the continuous form.
When Grace came to the destination Austin had already been there for an hour. When Grace arrived at the appointed place, Austin had already been there for an hour.
In such proposals, the period of time must be specified.
Note 1: Verbs that express desire, intention and hope are used in the Past Perfect to indicate that this intention, hope or desire did not come true.
He had expected you to support but you didn't. He expected you to help, but you didn't.
Note 2: Sometimes when not emphasis should be placed on duration important fact his accomplishments, the Past Perfect is used.
When I got my first job I had lived outskirts of town. When I got my first job, I lived on the outskirts of the city.
But grammatically it would be more correct to use the long form:
When I got my first job I was living outskirts of town.
3. Past Perfect is a future perfect action in the past in subordinate clauses of time.
She said that Michael would come back as soon as he had done all work. She said that Michael would return as soon as he finished all the work.
4. Past Perfect is used in constructions with the words hardly / scarcely (barely), as well as with the adverb no sooner (only; as soon as).
He had hardly entered the room when the phone rank. As soon as he entered the room, the telephone rang.
or the same but with a different word order:
Hardly had he entered the room when the phone rank.
He had no sooner come home then he saw his brother. As soon as he entered the room, the telephone rang.
with a different word order:
No sooner had he come home then he saw his brother.
