Past Perfect

Explore the intricacies of the Past Perfect tense in English grammar with our comprehensive guide! Learn how to express completed actions before another past event, and understand when to use this tense effectively. Master the nuances and elevate your language skills effortlessly!

Grammar

Practice how to use Past Perfect.

Introduction:

Host: Hello and welcome to the English Magnet. Today’s video: Past Perfect Made Easy! Ah, the past perfect, not as well known as its cousin the present perfect but a very useful tense which can be referred to as the ‘past of the past’. By the end of this video, you’ll have a complete understanding of the past perfect. We’ll go over its structure, when to use it, related key time words, and common mistakes to bear in mind. Alright, let’s get to work!

Part 1: Structure of the Past Perfect

Even though the past perfect might not feel too widespread in day-to-day English, its structure is quite simple and manageable. It consists of two words; an auxiliary (had; the past of have) and a past participle. Simply put: subject + had + 3rd form of verbs. The 3rd form comes in many flavors (-ed ending for regular verbs and a myriad of forms for irregular verbs). So, it looks like this: You had shared / We had kept / They had taken.

So far so good. Now, you can totally use a contraction of the subject and ‘had’ (contractions are shown on screen I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, it’d, we’d, they’d). However, let’s not mix up the contraction subject + had with the identical contraction subject + would (You had shared = you’d shared / you would share = you’d share). In a vacuum, this contraction (apostrophe d) can go both ways, you can figure out the real meaning with a bit of context; look at the following word. A past participle (3rd form) implies ‘had’ so it’s the past perfect here. A base form verb (infinitive) implies a conditional tense (would + base form) so would is used here.

For the negative form, add ‘not’ between the two verb words. Go for the contraction form ‘hadn’t’ especially when speaking. That’s it! Pretty easy, right? 🙂 So you end up with you hadn’t shared / we hadn’t kept / They hadn’t taken.

For questions, it’s the classic subject/verb inversion (with had) (Had you shared / Had we kept / Had they taken). Just pay attention to the word order, especially when forming a negative question: Had + Subject + not + past participle or the contracted form (Hadn’t + subject + past participle). (Had you not shared / Had we not kept / Had they not taken) or (Hadn’t you shared / Hadn’t we kept / Hadn’t they taken).

Part 2: Usage

Great news! The past perfect isn’t as broadly used as the present perfect which means it’s used less frequently! Nevertheless, understanding and using it correctly is a fundamental pillar of one’s journey in the English language. So, let’s look at different cases using the past perfect:

1) It can be used to talk about a completed action in the past before another action in the past or a moment in the past. By using the past perfect, you are sequencing past actions providing order and coherence to your ideas.

Example: Before the game ended, Emily had scored three goals.

Obviously, Emily had to score her goals before the end of the game and the past perfect clearly establishes this by placing the scoring before the ending of the game.

Example: They had watched the movie twice in theater prior to its release on streaming platforms.

Watching the movie took place before the moment it was released on streaming platforms. Again the chronology of events is set by the past perfect.

2) It can be used to talk about a cause and effect relationship in the past. Since the cause happens first it will be highlighted with the past perfect while the effect won’t since it has to take place after.

Example: My phone battery lasted all day because I had charged it overnight.

The 2 actions (lasting and charging) are part of a cause and effect duo; the lasting happened because of the charging. The past perfect is applied to the cause (since it always occurs first) and the use of the connector ‘because’ further highlights the cause here.

Example: She hadn’t eaten all day, so she grumpily attended the meeting.

The 2 actions (not eating and attending) are linked as cause & effect; first the not eating happened and in turn it caused the grumpy attending. The past perfect is applied to the cause which came first and the connector ‘so’ pinpoints the effect happening in second.

3) It can be used to talk about unreal conditions in the past. The past perfect is used in the if-clause of a 3rd conditional or with the verb ‘wish’ when we imagine a hypothetical condition in the past.

Example: Leo wishes he had left earlier.

In reality Leo left late but when wishing the unreal scenario of him leaving on time we must use the past perfect to help convey such a situation.

Example: My cat would have caught the mouse if it had seen it.

The mouse is alive and well since the cat didn’t even notice it. In the example I imagine the unreal condition of my cat seeing the mouse. But, it goes without saying that my cat isn’t a killing machine.

4) It can be used to report speech initially expressed in the present perfect tense. When recounting someone’s words, the past perfect is used to indicate that an action happened before the reporting verb.

Example: My sister said she had never been to Paris before.

The past perfect is used here to report the speech of my sister. We can conclude she initially said: I have never been to Paris before. The past perfect helps place the action prior to another action in the past. In other words, the action (not being in Paris) took place before the statement was recounted.

Part 3: Key time words

Since the past perfect covers actions linked to the past, some time words are often used to bring to light its connection with the past. They help to provide context about when an action happened in relation with another action or a moment in time. The following list includes the most common time words.

1) Already & Just for a previous action.

Both words are usually found between ‘had’ and the 3rd form of the verb. Already is a classic word with the past perfect as it signals that an action was completed earlier than expected. So it implies that the action precedes another one or a specific moment. Just is similar in meaning but it refers to an action that happened a short time before.

Example:

He had already drunk two cups of coffee this morning, so I didn’t offer him another one.

Drinking two cups happened earlier than expected and, of course, before even offering a third cup of coffee.

If we had just finished our project, we could have gone to the party.

The unreal finishing of the project happened a short time before and, of course, it precedes the hypothetical going to the party. Too bad, work time over party time!

2) Before & After for sequencing 2 actions in the past.

By incorporating the past perfect with these time words you can emphasize the order of the actions with the one in the past perfect being the first that happened. Just follow these structures:

Before + past simple, past perfect.

After + past perfect, past simple.

Example:

Before your friend called, you had gone to school.

After you had gone to school, your friend called.

In both instances, the past perfect and time words establish the order of the actions; going to school happened prior to the call.

3) Yet & Never for negative statements.

Both words are used to convey that an action in the past hadn’t happened up to a point in the past. With yet there is the expectation that the action has happened later or will eventually happen. (place ‘yet’ at the end of the sentence) While never implies that the action hasn’t happened until a certain point when that changed. (‘never’ takes the place of ‘not’)

Example:

Mike had to do a presentation this morning but he hadn’t prepared it yet.

By morning time Mike’s presentation wasn’t done, but people expect him to do it at some point. Probably sooner rather than later 😉

She had never won a championship until last year.

Winning a championship never happened until last year when things changed, congratulations! 🙂

Part 4: Common Mistakes

1) Using the past perfect in excess

When learning about the past perfect many learners tend to overuse it. Keep in mind that the past perfect is usually used to express an action in the past which happened before another action in the past. If only one action is stated, it’s most likely going to be in the past simple. If you have a succession of actions that don’t need sequencing, also avoid the past perfect.

Example:

Last week, I had seen my friends. = Last week, I saw my friends.

A single action here, no need for the past perfect.

This morning I had woken up, had gotten dressed and went to work. = This morning, I woke up, got dressed and went to work.

Here no need to use the past perfect since you are sequencing actions in the past that are obviously done in that order. Any other order for such a morning routine is freaky to say the least.

2) Using ‘never’ in the past perfect

Here again the confusion might come from overusing the past perfect. If the idea is to express an action that hadn’t happened in the past up to a certain point in the past, you’re doing justice to the past perfect. However, if the action hasn’t happened up to the present moment, use the present perfect instead.

Example:

I had never watched this movie (before yesterday). = Never watching ended in the past (yesterday).

I have never watched this movie. = Never watching is ongoing, no change so far.

3) 3rd conditionals

In a 3rd conditional it is very tempting to use the past simple when one wishes to express an unreal condition in the past. Regrettably, here you need the past perfect because the past simple actually expresses an unreal condition in the present.

Example:

If I had time yesterday, I would have helped you. = If I had had time yesterday, I would have helped you.

First off, yes, ‘had had’ is a thing, it’s the past perfect of ‘have’. Second, in the first sentence ‘If I had time’ & yesterday can’t go together since it’s about the unreal condition of having time now, while in the second sentence it works out to be about the past, so it’s fine.

Wrap up

Host: There you go, the past perfect and its ability to juggle with past actions. Are you already leaving, too bad, we wish you had had more time for another video. 😉 Still, we hope this one has been helpful! A link to some free material to practice by yourselves can be found in the description below. Keep practicing, and you’ll get the hang of it. Thank you for watching. Until next time!