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The Past Perfect Tense

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17 views1 page

The Past Perfect Tense

Uploaded by

jihadlaglil95
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Past Perfect Tense is used to describe an action that was completed before another action in the

past. It is used to show which of two past events happened first.

1. Usage:

The Past Perfect tense is used for:


• Actions completed before another action in the past: By the time she arrived, we had already
left.

• Actions completed before a specific time in the past: He had finished the report by 5 PM.

• Reporting past experiences: They had never seen a tiger before visiting the zoo.

• Showing cause and effect in the past: She was tired because she had studied all night.

2. Form:

• Subject + had + past participle. Affirmative

I/You/We/They/He/She/It had eaten before we arrived.

• Subject + had + not + past participle Negative

I/You/We/They hadn’t met him before the party.


She/He/It hadn’t left when we called.

• Had + subject + past participle ? Question

Had you finished the work before the meeting?


Had they gone home by midnight?

3. Spelling Rules for Past Participles:

The same rules apply as for the Present Perfect tense:

Regular verbs: Add -ed to the base form of the verb. (play → played / work → worked)
Irregular verbs: Use the irregular past participle form. (go → gone / see → seen / eat → eaten)

4. Time Expressions:

Common time expressions used with the Past Perfect include:

• Before: She had finished her homework before she went out.

• By the time: By the time he arrived, the party had already ended.

• When: When I got to the station, the train had left.

• Already: We had already eaten by the time she called.

• Just: He had just left when I arrived.

• Never: I had never seen such a beautiful sunset.

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