PAST PERFECT TENSE

Past Perfect Tense

The Past Perfect Tense is a tense used to indicate an action or event that was completed at a certain time in the past before another action occurred.

 

Sentences	Formulas
Positive Sentences (+)	Subject + had + verb3/past participle + complement
Negative Sentences (-)	Subject + had + not + verb3/participle + complement
Questions (?)	Had + subject + verb3/participle + complement?

For Example:

• Positive: "She had finished her work before she went home."
• Negative: "She had not finished her work before she went home."
• Question: "Had she finished her work before she went home?"

 

Functions And Uses Of The Past Perfect Tense

1. Explaining the finished moment

This Tense can serve to express an action in the past that has finished occurring before another past moment occurs.

If you want to talk about this condition, you can also insert subordinate conjunctions like:

• After (simple past tense + after + past perfect tense)
• Before by the time, when (past perfect tense + before / by the time / when + simple past tense)

For Example:

• I had already eaten breakfast by the time he picked me up.

 

2. Indicates the intensity of an event

The past perfect can be used to show how often something happened in the past. The time expression that is often used is the adverbial phrase of frequency.

Here are some examples:

• Twice / two times / three times + before + simple past tense / participle (phrase)
• Every day / every two days / every other day

For Example:

• I had read the book three times before I read its review.
• They had met twice before getting married.
• Yulia had been to the gym every two days until 2012.

 

3. Used for reported speech

Past perfect can be used to create reported speech or indirect speech. Simply put, reported speech is a sentence that we convey from another person.

The verbs that can be used are: said, told, asked, thought, wondered.

For Example:

• He said that he had listened carefully the instruction.
• I thought he had changed to be better man.

 

4. Making wishes

It turns out that in addition to discussing the past, past perfect can also be used to make wishful statements or expectations, you know!

The formula is: if + past perfect tense + would/should/could / might + have + past participle.

For Example:

• If you had remembered to invite me, I would have attended your party.
• Rani would have been the same level with me if she had studied harder.