Past Perfect
Use
This tense is used to refer to an action which had happened (started and ended) before another situation in the past.
Past Perfect Affirmative
Subject + Had + Past Participle of The Verb + the rest of the sentence.
To formulate affirmative sentences in this tense, we use the auxiliary "Had", regardless of the subject of the sentence.
The main verb is conjugated in Past Participle but its form will depend on the regular or irregular form of the verb.
If the verb is Regular, we add "-ed" at the end of it.
If the verb is Irregular, it will appear in the irregular verb list, the Past Participle appears in the 3rd column.
Examples:She had finished her homework before dinner.
They had left when we arrived.
I had eaten breakfast already.
He had visited Paris twice before 2020.
We had cleaned the house before the guests came.
Past Perfect Negative
Subject + Had Not + Verb Conjugated In The Past Participle + the rest of the sentence.
In the negative sentences, add "not" to the auxiliary verb "Had not (Hadn't)".
The Verb is always conjugated in the Past Participle.
Examples:She had not finished her homework before dinner.
They had not left when we arrived.
I had not eaten breakfast yet.
He had not visited Paris before 2020.
We had not cleaned the house before the guests came.
Past Perfect Interrogative
Had + Subject + Verb Conjugated In Past Participle + the rest of the sentence?
The interrogative form is formulated writing the auxiliary "Had" before the Subject.
The verb of the sentence is always written in Past Participle.
Examples:Had she finished her homework before dinner?
Had they left when you arrived?
Had you eaten before the meeting?
Had he visited Paris before 2020?
Had we cleaned the room before they came?
Quiz to Practice
Let's test your Past Perfect skills! This tense helps us describe events that are done. You got this!
Learn this content with audios, offline and free in TeacherApp English
