Past Perfect: rules of formation and cases of use. Past Perfect - Past Perfect Tense in English Past Perfect Tense

past perfect- is formed using the auxiliary verb to have in Past Indefinite (had) and the past participle (Past Participle) of the main verb.

HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE

In the interrogative In the Past Perfect form, the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject, and the main verb is placed after the subject.

negative the form is formed using the negative particle -not, which is placed after the auxiliary verb.

MeaningPastPerfect

There is no analogue of this tense in Russian, so this tense causes difficulties for Russian speakers.

Compare:

By the time I got to work they had already finished the meeting. (Everything is in the past tense in Russian)

In English, such sentences use different tenses of the verb:

When I came to work they had already completed the meeting (came - Past Simple, had completed - Past Perfect)

Past perfect sentence examples

Susan had left the party when he arrived. - Susan left the party when he arrived.

The Past Perfect is rarely used in everyday speech.

The meaning of using this form is that it is important for the speaker to establish the sequence of events in the past.

AtconsumptionPastPerfect

PastPerfect expresses an action in the past that happened and ended before another past action or before some moment or period of the past tense. The Past Perfect is the past tense because it describes a past perfect action in relation to a moment that is also past. This moment can be specified:

a) time symbols, such as: by the end of the year - by the end of the year, by four o "clock - by four o'clock, by Friday - by Friday, by the 14th of November - by November 14, by that time - by that time, etc .P.:

He had written only two reports by four o'clock - He had only written two reports by four o'clock.

Marina had left by the 15 th of June- Marina left (already) by June 15

By ten o'clock on Friday I had already repaired my car- By 10 o'clock I had already repaired my car

b) another past action, which is expressed by the verb in Past Indefinite, and which happened after the event expressed by the Past Perfect form:

When I arrived to the airport the plane had already gone – When I arrived at the airport, the plane had already departed (the verb arrived - expresses an action that happened later - it arrived at the airport, and the plane left before that)

They had discussed the contract when I come When I arrived, they discussed the contract

c) The moment until which the action expressed by the Past Perfect took place may not be specified in this proposal. It is mentioned in another sentence:

She received a letter from my mother yesterday. She had not heard from her for a long time. - She received a letter from my mother yesterday. She hasn't heard from her in a very long time.

Important:

In a situation where we are talking about two or more past actions that are transmitted in the order in which they occurred, they are expressed by verbs in Past Simple (Indefinite):

I took a bath and went to bed I took a bath and went to bed.

But if the sequence of actions is interrupted by a mention of previously completed actions, then such previously completed actions are expressed by verbs in the Past Perfect:

I met Jack, we had lunch and went to office but i remembered that i had promised my wife to call her I met Jack, we had lunch and went to the office, but I remembered that I promised to call my wife

(In this example, the verbs met, had, went, remembered - indicate the sequence of actions that happened in the past in the order in which they happened, but the verb had promised - used in the Past Perfect interrupts this chain, because he PROMISED to his wife before how he met Jack, they had dinner, etc.)

She came home late in the evening. She had signed three contracts and had called clients. She had dinner and went to bed - She came home late at night. She signed 3 contracts and called clients. She had dinner and went to bed.

The negative form of the Past Perfect means that the action has not yet ended at a certain point in the past.:

I had not read the book by Saturday I had not read this book by Saturday.

When we called for Julia, she hadn't yet got up When we went for Julia, she had not yet got up (she was in bed).

Other uses of Present Perfect:

a) Past Perfect is used instead of Past Perfect Continuous (with verbs not used in Continuous). In such a sentence, the time during which the action took place must be indicated.

Important:

Verbs expressing hope, intention, desire: hope hope, expect expect, think think, want to want etc. are used in the Past Perfect form when it is understood that they didn't come true.

I had hoped would you help me I was hoping you could help me (but didn't).

I had thought you knew about our problem I thought you knew about our problem (but I was wrong).

b) The Past Perfect can be used in cases where the Past Perfect Continuous could be used. This is done in order to focus not on the duration of the process, but on the very fact of the action.

When I found out about her she had lived in USA for three years When I found out about her she lived (already) in the USA for 3 years

c) Past Perfect can be used in subordinate clauses of time, the action of which is future in relation to past events. Such sentences are introduced by conjunctions of time: after after, when when, assoonas once,until (till) until, etc. The speaker assumes that this action will be completed before the action of the main clause occurs. In this meaning, Past Perfect is translated into Russian as a form of the future tense.

He said that he would take a vacation as soon as he had finished the project- He said he would take a vacation as soon as he finished the project.

She would sit with her baby tonight after Maria had gone – She will babysit her baby tonight, after Maria leaves.

How to get out of the past and return to the earlier past? It is not a time machine that comes to the rescue, as one might think initially, but a solution that is much simpler and more interesting at the same time: Past Perfect Simple tense - Past Perfect, which is studied in grades 6-7.

General information

There are three tenses in English: Past (past), Present (present) and Future (future). In this regard, the Russian language is in solidarity with its brother. But there are also disagreements between them - temporary forms. Depending on what kind of action we have before us - regular, long-term or completed, four aspects are distinguished in each of the three times: Simple (Simple), Continuous (Long), Perfect (Perfect), Perfect Continuous (Long Perfect).

Today, the focus is on the rules for using Past Perfect Simple - Past Perfect Tense.

Past Perfect rules and examples

If it seems that the work is easy to do, then it certainly turns out to be difficult. Conversely, complex problems always have simple solutions. This unwritten rule also applies to the Past Perfect. It is not as complicated as it seems. The first thing to remember is that this time is never used on its own. It always "works" cohesively, side by side with another action in the past, and indicates that the action expressed by it happened before another action or before a certain time. Consider two examples:

We came to the bus stop and the bus left - We came to the bus stop and the bus left.
We came to the bus stop, but the bus had left - We came to the bus stop, but the bus left.

Before using this or that temporary form, it is necessary to understand what happened first and what happened second, or two actions happened simultaneously. In the first case, we managed to get on the bus we needed and use Past Simple (Simple Past), i.e. the events in this sentence happened sequentially one after another. In the second example, we were late and missed the bus we needed - it had already left. In other words, the action happened before we arrived, and therefore the Past Perfect form is used here.

Use cases

There are other less common cases of using the past perfect tense:

Time markers

Past Perfect time markers include the following circumstances, conjunctions and prepositions:

By the time - by the time (By the time they came home, my mother had baked an apple pie - By the time they got home, mine had baked an apple pie);
After - after a certain moment (She fell asleep after I had left her - She fell asleep after I left her);
Before - until a certain point (She had never been to London before she came here last month - She had never been to London the way she came here last month);
When - when (The train had left when he arrived at the station - The train left when it arrived at the station);
Just - just now (When she entered the room I had just heard the news - When she entered the room, I just heard the news);
Already - already (I had already finished with my dinner when he knocked on the door - I had already cooked dinner when he knocked on the door);
Yet - more (She moved to another city but she had not told her parents about it yet - She moved to another city, but has not yet told her parents about it);
For - during (He thought that he was not able to drive a car anymore because he had not driven it for 20 years - He thought that he could no longer drive a car, because he had not driven it for 20 years)
Since - since (Her new book was wonderful because she had worked on it since last year - Her new book was wonderful because she had been working on it since last year).

Adverbs yet (yet), just (just now), already (already) are a common feature for the two times Present Perfect (Present Perfect) and Past Perfect (Past Perfect).

Formation of the affirmative form

The temporary form Past Perfect (Past Perfect) is formed according to a certain pattern: had + Participle II(Past participle or third form of the verb). Regular verbs form Participle II (Past Participle) with the ending - ed: to use - used (use - used). If the verb belongs to the group of irregular verbs, then the required form must be taken from the third column of the table of irregular verbs: I had opened (I opened), she had studied (she taught), we had bought (we bought).

Negation

The negative form Past Perfect (Past Perfect) is formed with the help of a negative particle not (not), which is placed between the auxiliary verb had and Participle II(Past participle):

I had not opened (I did not open), she had not studied (she did not teach), we had not bought (we did not buy).

Question

In an interrogative sentence in English, the word order changes. In the time Past Perfect (Past Perfect) in the question, the auxiliary verb comes first had, followed by the subject (pronoun or noun) and the main verb expressed by Participle II (Past Participle):

Had I opened? (did I open?), Had she studied? (did she teach?), had we bought? (we bought?).

In special questions, the scheme is preserved with the only difference - in the first place are interrogative words (Who? - Who?; What? - What?; Which? - What?; When? - When?; Where? - Where?; Where? - Where? ; Why? - Why?; How? - How?; How much / many? - How much?): What had I opened? (What did I discover?), Where had she studied? (Where did she go to school?), When had we bought? (When did we buy?).

What have we learned?

Today we got acquainted with the Past Perfect (Past Perfect), which is one of the tense forms of the past tense in English, and denotes an action in the past that preceded another action in the past. We also learned about its features, when it is used in a sentence and with what time markers.

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We have already got acquainted with the English language, with its formation and use in earlier articles, and today we will get acquainted with the other two tenses of the Perfect group - the past and the future.

Past Perfect Tense

Let's start with the formation of the past perfect tense. As you probably remember, the tenses of the Perfect group are formed according to the same pattern - an auxiliary verb to have+ (that is, the third form according to the table of irregular verbs). Because we form the past tense, then the auxiliary verb takes the form of the past tense had and this form applies to all persons without exception.

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Pay attention to the table of formation of the past perfect tense, and everything will immediately become clear.

To form an interrogative form, we put the auxiliary verb had before the subject, and to form a negative form, we put "not" after the auxiliary verb:

negative form

Interrogative form

Using the Past Perfect

Having understood the formation of the past tense Perfect, let's move on to its application. We use this time to express an action that has already been completed by a certain moment in the past. This point can be expressed in two ways:

An exact indication of the time with the preposition "by", to which the action was performed in the past.
- Mary had completed knitting the sock by 10 o'clock - Mary finished knitting the sock by 10 o'clock
- The children had solved the sums by 3 o'clock - the children solved the problems by 3 o'clock.
By indicating another action (usually translated into English by the Past Indefinite form) that ended in the past. That is, if we have 2 actions, and both happened in the past, but one before the other, then the Past Perfect will denote the one that happened before (therefore, the Past Perfect is also called the “past tense”).
- When you called me I had already ironed the clothes - when you called me, I already ironed the clothes
- When mother came I had prepared the supper - when my mother came, I had already prepared dinner.

The Future Perfect Tense - future perfect tense

As for the future perfect tense - The Future Perfect Tense, it is used to express an action that will end at a certain point in the future, for example, "I shall have completed the housework by 12 tomorrow by 12 o'clock tomorrow" - I shall have completed the housework by 12 tomorrow. To form the future perfect tense, we need the future forms of the auxiliary verb have - shall have and will have and the invariable participle of the perfect form - the third form of the verb

affirmative form

negative form

Interrogative form

As in the case of the past perfect tense, in the Future Perfect a certain moment in the future can be expressed in two ways:

Preposition by
I will have finished my translation by 7 o'clock - I will finish the translation by 7 o'clock
Another action:
When you come, I will have passed all the exams - When you arrive (by the time you arrive), I will have already passed all the exams

Imagine: you want to tell a friend about how you spent the evening yesterday, about what you planned to do, but didn’t have time, or maybe you want to ask a couple of questions about his past, but don’t know how to do it right.

The past perfect tense is one of the trickiest in English. It is often found in everyday speech, and when speaking it is almost impossible to avoid using it.

In this article, you will learn how the Past Perfect is formed and when it is used, learn the basic rules and analyze examples with the translation of sentences found in English.

What is Past Perfect?

Past Perfect is the past perfect tense in English. It is used when we talk about some action that has already ended by a certain point in time in the past (or before the start of another action in the past).

At the same time, the exact moment of the end of the action in the past can be indicated, or it can be omitted (but it is necessarily implied from the context).

He had washed the dirty plates - He washed the dirty plates (the exact time is not specified)

I had cooked dinner by 6 o'clock - I cooked dinner at 6 o'clock (the exact time is indicated)

The exact time is often indicated with the preposition by, but it can also be expressed by another preceding action.

They had eaten pizza when I came to their place - They ate pizza when I came to them

The action (meal) was over by a certain point in time in the past (when I arrived).

IMPORTANT: do not confuse Past Perfect (past perfect) and Past Simple (simple past).

If something happened at a certain time in the past, we use the Past Simple, especially when it comes to several consecutive actions that are performed one after another. When it is important for us to show precedence, to “leave” the sequence and indicate that one of the actions took place before the other (others) - we need the Past Perfect.

Compare:

I learned Italian at school - I learned Italian at school (Past Simple, a person no longer studies at school)

I had learned Italian before I visited the Milan - I learned Italian before I visited Milan (Past Perfect is used for an action that ended before another action in the past)

How is the Past Perfect formed?

The construction of the Past Perfect tense is formed using the auxiliary verb had and the third form of the semantic verb (V3).

The auxiliary verb had is used with subjects of all tenses and persons (I / She / He / It / We / You / They)

If the semantic verb is of the correct form, then its third form (V3) is formed using the ending -ed.

If the semantic verb is irregular, then we take its third form (V3) from the table of irregular verbs.

For example:

to ask → asked (to ask)

to open → opened (to open)

to try → tried (try)

to feel → felt (to feel)

to lose → lost (to lose)

to sleep → slept (sleep)

Statement

To make an affirmative sentence, you need to add the auxiliary verb had and the third form of the semantic verb (V3) to the subject

I / She / He / It / We / You / They + had + V3

I had stopped the car - I stopped the car

He had booked a single room - He booked a single room

We had frozen to death - We froze to death

She had finished writing letters by two o'clock - She finished writing letters by two o'clock

I had done = I'd done (I finished)

You had felt = You'd felt (You felt)

Negation

In a negative sentence, the particle not is added to the auxiliary verb had, and then the third form of the verb (V3) follows.

I / She / He / It / We / You / They + had not + V3

I had not finished breakfast - I did not finish breakfast

She had not washed her clothes - She did not wash her clothes

We had not seen the sunrise - We did not see the dawn

had not = hadn't

I had not done = I hadn't done (I didn't)

You had not felt = You hadn't felt (You didn't feel)

Question

An interrogative sentence in the Past Perfect is formed according to the following formula: the auxiliary verb had is placed at the beginning of the sentence before the subject.

Had + I / She / He / It / We / You / They + V3

Had you opened the window? - Did you open the window?

Had he passed his exam? - Did he pass his exam?

Had they come by 4 o "clock? - Did they come at four o'clock?

Had the supermarket opened by that time? - Has the supermarket already opened by then?

Special questions are formed using question words (question words). Such as when (when), what (what), where (where) and others. This is followed by the same word order as in the usual Past Perfect question.

QW + had + I / She / He / It / We / You / They + V3

What had I done? - What I've done?

When had he booked the table? - When did he reserve a table?

When is the Past Perfect used?

Most often, the Past Perfect is used in three cases:

Actions that happened before another action in the past

Joan had drunk a smoothie before going to work

He told you that he had met your brother - He told you that he met your brother

Actions that have seen results in the past

I was upset. I had forgotten my bag in the car - I was upset. I forgot my bag in the car

My family was surprised to know I had passed all the exams successfully - My family was surprised to know that I passed all the exams successfully.

Hardly...when and no sooner...than

The Past Perfect tense is used in hardly...when, no sooner...than constructions and the like. In Russian, we would say “as soon as I ...”, “as soon as I ...”, “I did not have time ...”. In this case, it is also talking about some action before another action in the past, but the peculiarity is precisely the construction of the sentence - the reverse word order.

Hardly had I sent the message when he came - As soon as I sent the message, so he came

No sooner had she come into the room than the telephone rang - As soon as she entered the room, the phone rang

Time Markers Past Perfect

Phrases that indicate a point in time in the past will help you find out that you have the Past Perfect in front of you:

before (before)
never before (never before)
after (after; after)
no sooner...than / hardly...when
by that time (by that time)
by three o'clock (by three o'clock)
by 9 pm
by evening (by evening)
by morning (by morning)
by that day (by that day)
by the 6th of October (by the sixth of October)
by that age (by that age)

With the words before and after, you can use both the Past Perfect and the Past Simple, because they themselves build the order of actions in the sentence.

We left after we had finished our work (Past Perfect) = We left after we finished our work (Past Simple) = We left after we finished our work

Both options are valid, are not a mistake and are translated into Russian without loss of meaning.

Example sentences with Past Perfect

affirmative sentences:

I saw that everybody had already finished - I saw that everyone had already finished

Jim bought a new wallet, as he had lost his old one - Jim bought a new wallet because he lost his old one

Hardly had Kate left the bus, when the accident happened - As soon as Kate left the bus, the accident happened

He had cooked dinner when they arrived - He cooked dinner when they arrived

Negative suggestions:

We hadn't eaten anything before we went to bed - We didn't eat anything before going to bed

Harry said that he hadn't passed the exams yet - Harry said that he hadn't passed the exams yet

I hadn't opened the bottle of wine by that time - I had not opened a bottle of wine by that time

She had not worked before she graduated an university - She did not work before she graduated from the university

Interrogative sentences:

Had the plane arrived by that time? Has the plane already arrived by then?

How many times had she been married by that age? How many times had she been married by that age?

Where did you go before the party finished? Where did you go before the party was over?

There are different forms of the past tense in English. Their difference lies in the quality of the action that took place or how long it was. A characteristic feature of the grammatical design of English speech is its logic.

Therefore, the British consider it incorrect in a monologue to jump from one grammatical construction to another when narrating past events. They call the Past Perfect tense the most intense and giving expressiveness to speech.

Features of the grammatical structure Past Perfect

If you need to talk about events that occurred in the past, when one of them happened before the other, then the past perfect tense is used. It is also called "pre-past" and past completed.

Native speakers admit that they rarely use this construction, but it sounds very good if it is grammatically correct.

Another feature of the Past Perfect grammatical structure is that it is almost never used in dialogic speech. It is used mainly in narration, most often in complex sentences when describing several actions.

Formation of the Past Perfect construction

The rule for forming the Past Perfect is quite simple and not cluttered with many verbs. Verb to have acts as an auxiliary in the form of the past tense - had. The main verb is in the third form.

It is necessary to distinguish between the formation of the third form of irregular and regular verbs. Regular verbs are called so because when forming past tense forms, there is one rule for them: the ending -ed (-d) is attached to the verb.

The Past Perfect education formula looks like this:

For example: Everyone had paid for purchases by credit cards.

The rule for the formation of different forms of sentences will first be given in a general form to understand its construction, and then we will consider the formation of the Past Perfect construction in complex sentences.

Past Perfect in affirmative sentences

A characteristic feature of the structure of sentences in English is a strictly fixed sequence of all members of the sentence:

Subject.
Predicate.
Secondary Members.

If the predicate consists of two verbs, as in the case under consideration, then the auxiliary verb should come first, followed by the semantic one.

The famous American scientist had got the Nobel Price.

foreigner had spelled some words correctly.

Taxi had stopped far from my house.

Past Perfect in negative sentences

The fixed word order rule holds true for negative sentences as well. Particle not has its static place after the auxiliary verb.

When forming a negative form of the Past Perfect, it must be borne in mind that there are two alternatives:

Full: had not.
Brief: hadn't.

Word order in a negative sentence:

Subject.
Auxiliary.
Negation.
semantic verb.
Secondary Members.

Some students had not studied subjects carefully.

My relatives had not returned in time.

The rival company had not given us a chance.

Past Perfect in interrogative sentences

There are two types of interrogative sentences in English:

General.
Special.

A general question is also called a “question-doubt”, that is, the person asking the question, as it were, asks the interlocutor about the information already heard.

The word order in this case is different from the affirmative sentence:

Auxiliary.
Subject.
semantic verb.
Secondary Members.

Had you heard the last news about the price of tickets?

Had she chosen the pair of new shoes?

Had he changed the headline of his article?

A special question implies the presence of an interrogative word, that is, it is a more specific type of interrogative sentence.

The sequence of words has changed and looks like:

Question word.
Auxiliary.
Subject.
semantic verb.
Secondary Members.

whom had they elected as a President?

What had you done to make friends with us?

Using the Past Perfect Construction in Speech

Past Perfect is used in different speech situations, it depends on the context:

The action ended up to some point in the past. The border of the moment is indicated by the so-called verbal time barriers: by Sunday, by 17 o'clock.
They had begun to work by 19 o'clock in the evening.
My sister had read the book by Wednesday.
One of the actions ended before the other. A later action is described in the Past Simple. Parts of sentences with different actions can be combined with conjunctions as soon as, after, before, when and others.
Pupils carefully made the task after the teacher had given it.
After the tourist had known the local currency of Spain, he paid for everything in cash.
When she returned home her parents had slept already.
If the speaker delimits the sequence of actions in the process of his narration, then it is necessary to grammatically arrange the times.
It is very difficult for people who begin to study such subtleties of English speech at first. But with regular practice, the process is gradually brought to automatism.
Only when the dinner for my family was ready I understood that I had forgotten to salt it. After my friends had gone away I began to clean the room.
When the performance was over, we had called a taxi.
The action began in the past and continued for a certain period of time until the next action in the past or during this action.
The peculiarity of this Past Perfect position is that:
- The Past Perfect time performs the functions of the Past Perfect Continuous construction here. This is due to the fact that Continuous is not used with state verbs.
  As for me, I had understood the things become worse.
  He had hated they impolite with people.
- When the negative in the Past Perfect is directed to action:
  Everybody got to know that parents had not seen him since the beginning of the war.
- When using verbs of motion:
  tourists had traveled for several days until there was a happy event.

Translation of sentences from Past Perfect into Russian

When translating a narration using the Past Perfect into Russian, one must be guided, first of all, by the basic rules for using constructions in speech and control their presence:

The completion of the action at the mentioned moment, indicating the date or time in the past.
The precedence of one action to another in the past.

Of course, there are many exceptions to the general rules when using the Past Perfect in speech, and all the nuances are mastered by directly entering the language environment.

But, despite the apparent complexity of the formation of this construction, especially in sentences with several actions, it will turn out to be much easier with regular practical use of it in speech.

The main thing is to know the rules of formation (Had + Verb 3) and the general rules for using the Past Perfect in speech, described above. In this case, the speaker will automatically begin to feel this construction and use it appropriately.