Past Perfect

The past perfect tense is often used in English when we are relating two events which happened in the past. It helps to show which event heppened first. This page will explain the rules for forming and using the tense.
Forming the past perfect tense
This tense is formed using two components: the verb HAVE (in the past tense), and the past participle form of a verb. With a regular verb the past participle ends with -ED (just like the simple past). Irregular verbs have a special past participle form that you have to learn. Here are the rules, using the regular verb "arrive" and the irregular verb "eat":
Subject
HAVE+Past Participle
Contraction
I had arrived. I had eaten.
I'd arrived. I'd eaten.
You had arrived You had eaten.
You'd arrived.You'd eaten.
He had arrived. He had eaten.
He'd arrived. He'd eaten.
She had arrived. She had eaten.
She'd arrived. She'd eaten.
It had arrived. It had eaten.
It'd arrived.It'd eaten.
We had arrived. We had eaten.
We'd arrived.We'd eaten.
They had arrived. They had eaten.
They'd arrived.They'd eaten.



Using the Past Perfect
The past perfect is used to show you which of two events happened first. Imagine that two things happened in the past:
I went to see the movie.
We discussed the movie in class.
Here, we don't know which order the events happened in. That may be important -- perhaps I went to see the movie after the discussion, or maybe I saw the movie before the discussion. There are many ways to make this sequence clear, and the past perfect is one of them. This is how we do it:
I went to see the movie. We had discussed it in class.
Here, we KNOW that the discussion took place FIRST -- even though the sentence describing it comes afterwards. We discussed the movie, and THEN I went to see it. This can be very useful when you are telling a story or relating a sequence of events. At any point in your story, you can jump BACK to a previous event, and your reader will not be confused, because the past perfect will make it clear that the event happened previously. Here is another example:
I wanted to live in a foreign country, so I applied for a job in Japan. Judy lived in Japan, so I called her to find out more about the culture and lifestyle there.
(Judy was probably still living in Japan when I called her.)
I wanted to live in a foreign country, so I applied for a job in Japan. Judy had lived in Japan, so I called her to find out more about the culture and lifestyle there.










Past Perfect
with "after" "before" and "when"


Note the use of "after", "before" and "when" with past perfect tense use.


Earlier

Later
After
I had stopped at an ATM

I took my friends out to lunch.

I had stopped at an ATM
before
I took my friends out to lunch.





Later

Earlier

I took my friends out to lunch
after
I had stopped at an ATM.
Before
I took my friends out to lunch

I had stopped at an ATM.





Earlier

Later

I had just closed my eyes
when
the telephone rang.





Later

Earlier
When
the telephone rang

I had just closed my eyes.


Practice


1. Consider the logical sequence of events, then, decide where to put the adverb.Next, decide whether to use past perfect verb tense.
2. Then click anywhere in the background of the page to see if your answer is partially or all correct. If all of your answer is correct then all of it will remain in the box. If it is partially correct , your answer will be erased to the right of the correct letters entered.

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EXAMPLE: We (just sit) down to dinner. A fire (break out) in the kitchen. when
Step 1: Consider the logical sequence of events, then, decide where to put the adverb. We (just sit) down to dinner. when A fire (break out) in the kitchen.
Step2: Join the sentences and adjust the verb tense in each clause.



1. He (just buy) a new home. His company (transfer) him to another city. when



2. The examination (already begin). They (discover) one of the pages was missing. after

3.His daughter (just given up) hope. She (receive) a telegram saying she had been awarded first prize.
when


4. The student (barely have) a chance to use his new text book. He (lose) it on a bus. before




5. The company (already ship) the merchandise.They (realize) they had sent it to the wrong address. after




6. He (barely overcome) one financial difficulty. Another, more serious one (face) him. when





7. The couple (just enter) the house. They (begin) to argue. when




8. They (hire) a new cook. The old one (ask) for his job back. after



9. The car (hardly go) a mile. It (have) a flat tire. before



10. The foot ball players (just enter) the stadium. A cheer (arise) from the audience. when
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