If you want to express that something has already happened, you need one Past tense of a verb. Would you like to say something before a certain event or time happened in the past, then you need the so-called pre-past.
For example, you only washed your hands after this You get them dirty had done. So getting your hands dirty predates handwashing, it happened before in the past. To express such a pre-past in English, you use this past perfect.
This tense also exists in German, in German it is called das past continuous or the Past Perfect.
Past Perfect – Education
In general, for the training of the past perfect the auxiliary verb had as well as the Past participle form of the verb used. had is there the past tense of the auxiliary verb have and does not change its shape. The past participle is die third form of the verb.
So you form the past perfect as follows scheme:
had + past participle shape of the verb
at regular verbs, how to kiss («kiss») or to cook («to cook») becomes simply the ending for the past participle -ed to the infinitive attached to the verb. Below are two sample sentences.
I had kissedit him.
(I had kissed him.)
They had cookedit a meatless dish.
(They had cooked a meatless dish.)
You can also see how in the examples had both in the singular (I) as well as in the plural (they) has the same shape.
uirregular verbs to have a irregular past participle Shape. You have to memorize these. Below you can see two example sentences with irregular verbs.
I had cried about it.
(I cried about it.)
You had taken myplaystation.
(You had taken my Playstation.)
To cry and to take are both irregular verbsso in these cases there is no or not just -ed appended to the infinitive.
In your English book you will usually find a list of all irregular verbs at the end. The past participle is almost always in the last column of these verb tables.
Like many other tenses, you can shorten the past perfect. In the Short shape will that had to ‘das in the following example:
I had viewed the match. / I‘d viewed the match.
(I had seen the game.)
she had asked her out already. / She‘d asked her out already.
(She had already asked her out.)
Do you want something denythen you use the negative form of the auxiliary verb had. Out of had it will then had need or the short form hadn’t. The formation follows this pattern:
had not/hadn’t + past participle
You can see how this works in the two following examples.
I had not viewed the match. / I hadn’t viewed the match.
(I hadn’t seen the game)
she Had not asked here out yet. / She hadn’t asked here out yet.
(She hadn’t asked her out on a date yet.)
Past perfect questions
When you ask questions in the past perfect, you ask had always at the beginning of the sentence, followed by this subjectthen that past participle and then that rest of the sentence (e.g. the location). So you can get this one Construction notice:
had + subject + past participle + rest
But beware: You can’t use a short sentence form here, had is always written out.
Now look at some examples:
had I viewed the match?
(Had I seen the game?)
had she not asked her out already?
(Hadn’t she already asked her out on a date?)
In the second example you can also see how questions also work in the negative. That not stands after the subject, in this case after she («you»).
Would you like a question in the past perfect with a Question word then the structure of the question changes as follows:
Question word + had + subject + past participle + rest
Look at the following example:
When had you viewed the match?
(When did you see the game?)
Where had she been before she returned home?
(Where had she been before she came home?)
so you name first a question word, followed by the question structure you just learned. A question word is followed by the auxiliary verb hadthe subject, the past participle form of the verb, and the rest of the sentence.
Past Perfect – Usage and Rules
You usually use the past perfect together with the Simple past, to express a pre-past. The past perfect can also alone in the sentence be used. You also need the past perfect to make a Type 3 if-clause to build.
1. Past Perfect and Simple Past – Expressing the past tense
Often past perfect and simple past are in the same sentence: Something happened before an event that also happened in the past. You can see that in this example.
Martin had bought a bike before the summer began.
(Martin bought a bike before summer started.)
For the first event that happened before the second, you take that Past Perfectt, for the second the Simple Past. In the Martin example, he bought his bike before summer started.
The purchase of the bicycle happened first and is therefore in the past perfect:
Martin had bought ...
Then the summer started. So we formulate this event in the Simple Past:
... before the summer began.
signal words
There are a few Signal words, which can show you when to use Past Perfect and Simple Past together. In this table you will find some of them listed with an example:
signal word in English
German translation
example sentence
when
as
I had already left when the sun came out.
as soon as
as soon as
I had left as soon as the sun came out.
because
because
I had left because the sun came out.
before
before
I had left before the sun came out.
so
so
the sun had come out, so I stayed.
but
but
I had wanted to leave, but then the sun came out.
nach
after this
The sun came out after I had left.
just
just
I had just left when the sun came out.
The past participle is again in bold and the simple past is underlined. You see that these signal words announce that one action preceded another action. For example «the sun came out» (the sun came out) «after this» (nach) «I left» (I had left). So the fact that I left happened before.
2. Past Perfect – Alone in the sentence
This case is less common, but you should know it anyway: The past perfect can also be used alone stand in the sentence and then also expresses an action that is in the happened in the past has and now closed is. Here is an example where the past perfect is alone in the sentence:
John had bought a bike.
(John had bought a bicycle.)
When the past perfect stands alone, it becomes difficult clear signal words to find. You can get a first hint just, already, never and once give anyway. However, these signal words can also be signal words for the present perfect.
To differentiate, you should ask yourself when the action took place in the past. actions in present perfect often took place not far from the present in terms of time or still do impact on the present or Future.
For a sentence in past perfect, the action happened in the past and was also completed in the past. The action has it no future impact or Present.
3. If-Clauses Type 3: Past Perfect + Present Perfect
You also need the past perfect to If clause type 3 to build. You form with if-clauses conditional clauses. In a type 3 sentence, however, the condition can impossible to fulfillbecome T. The condition can no longer be met because it is in the past and therefore the consequence of it no longer undoable is to do.
the If Clauses is also called Conditional Clauses, i.e. conditional clauses. They are used to express that for a certain situation to occur, a certain event must first be fulfilled. If you know more about If Clauses If you want to know, there is a detailed explanation on the subject of «If Clauses» here.
The past perfect is in the if clause and is used by one would + have + past participle in the main clause added, as you can read in the following examples.
If I had been children to myself, I would have been happy.
(If I had been nicer to myself, I would have been happier.)
If I had brought a cake, I wouldn’t have been hungry.
(Had I brought a cake I wouldn’t have been hungry.)
Past perfect examples
Finally, you can look at some examples of sentences that are formed with the past perfect in this table.
Positive statementNegative statementQuestionShe had/She’d listened to the album multiple times.She had/ She’d never listened to the album.Had she ever listened to the album?They had forgotten about the thunderstorm.They had not/They hadn’t forgotten about the thunderstorm.Had they forgotten about the thunderstorm?I had/I’d given up on maths before I failed the test.I had not/I hadn’t given up on maths before I failed the test.Had I given up on mathematics before I failed the test?
Past Perfect – The most important thing
- The past perfect describes a action in the pastwhich is already completed.
- It is formed with had and the past participle of verbs.
- With regular verbs, the past participle is formed from the infinitive with the ending -ed and with irregular verbs you have to memorize the past participle.
- Use of the Past Perfect:
- 1. Past Perfect and Simple Past in the same sentence: Something happened before an event that is also in the past. (e.g. Martin had bought a bike before the summer began.)
- 2. Past perfect alone in the sentence: Something happened in the past and is now complete. (E.g.: John had bought a bike.)
- 3. Past Perfect + if-clauses: Something did not happen in the past, but it could have happened. (Ex.: If I had brought a cake, I wouldn’t have been hungry.)