The Past Perfect tense

We use the past perfect tense to express an action that happened in the past before a particular time in the past.

Form: subject + helping verb “had” (in past simple) + main verb (in past participle)

• I had closed the windows before I left the building.
• The plumber sent us a bill for the work he had done.
• We had gone there once before.
• He came here shortly after you left.

We can use the verb “have” as a main verb in past participle form along with helping verb “had”.

• We had had ten phone calls this morning.
• She had had two glasses of whisky already.
• Our car had had a flat tire yesterday.
• I hadn’t had breakfast yet.

 

Positive	Negative	Question
I had forgotten.	I had not forgotten.	Had I forgotten?
You had chosen.	You had not chosen.	Had you chosen?
He had eaten.	He had not eaten.	Had he eaten?
She had seen.	She had not seen.	Had she seen?
It had frozen.	It had not frozen.	Had it frozen?
We had played.	We had not played.	Had we played?
They had gone.	They had not gone.	Had they gone?

We can use the question words (who, what, when, where, why, and how) at the beginning of interrogative sentences.

• Why had you left here?
• Where had you been?
• When had it frozen?
• What had they eaten?

 

Contractions in the past perfect tenses

Positive	Negative
I‘d played football.	I hadn’t played football.
You‘d seen him.	You hadn’t seen him.
He‘d finished his lunch.	He hadn’t finished his lunch.
She‘d gone home.	She hadn’t gone home.
We‘d watched TV.	We hadn’t watched TV.
They‘d studied English.	They hadn’t studied English.

We may confuse the short form of had with the shot form of would (I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, etc.).

“Would“ is followed by the base form of the verb and “had“ is followed by the past participle form of the verb.

• We‘d go. = We would go. [the base form of the verb “go”]
• We‘d gone. = We had gone. [the past participle form of the verb “go”]

 

Short answers in past perfect tenses.

• Had you closed the door? — Yes, I had [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers] – No. I hadn’t.
• Had she broken the glass? — Yes, she had. – No, she hadn’t.

 

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