Past Perfect: rules of formation and cases of use. The most "past tense" in English or Past Perfect

Hello, hello, my dears.

There are only three tenses in Russian. And the past is just the past, without any additions. But in English, everything is much more complicated. Have you heard of the Past Perfect? Such a small and completely inconspicuous brother of the painful for many Present Perfect.

So, if this “miracle” caused you any difficulties - or maybe you never heard about it at all - then today I will tell you everything. Past perfect: rules and examples- the theme of the lesson. We are waiting for an explanation of the rule, many, many examples, but the exercises will be already. After all, practice takes a lot of time.

How is it formedPast Perfect

Building affirmative proposals in this tense is identical to the formation in the present perfect tense with minor changes. In short, the scheme looks like this:

Subject +had + V3 + Object.

She had done her homework by 9 p. m. - She did homework by 9 pm.

They had already visited the place before. - They've been to this place before.

Let's take a short break here! Because I hope you remember that V3 is the third form of the verb. To regular verbs, we simply add the ending – ed, but we remember by heart and use the form from the third column!

I am not too lazy to remind you that English grammar can be very interesting and exciting to study with the help of the course « Grammar for Beginners» or online intensive « Smart like Shakespeare» offered by the well-deserved online service for learning English Lingualeo.

WITH negative sentences it's even simpler - we just add a particle not.

Subject +had not + V3 + Object.

I hadn't had breakfast before I set off to the university. -I Not had breakfast before, how go V university.

I hadn ’ t slept until my parents came back home. I didn't sleep until my parents came home.

IN interrogative sentence the structure changes to the following:

Had +subject+V3+An object?

Had you washed your hands before you started eating the dinner? -You washed hands before topics, How begin have supper?

Had you done the task before you went out to meet with your friends? -You did exercise before topics, How go meet co their friend?

When to UsePast Perfect

That's what, but with understanding when to use the Past Perfect, neither I nor my students have ever had problems. After all, everything is absolutely simple. Usually this rule is learned in the 8th grade, when students already have sufficient lexicon, and the explanation of the rule does not become a test for children.

The first and most important rule:

• past perfect is used to describe a situation that has already ended BEFORE some other action took place in the past.

The action that had already finished before another action happened.

I was on my way to work when I remembered (action in the past) that I had forgotten (prior action) the presentation on the table. -IwasonwayTowork, WhenIremembered, Whatforgotpresentationontable.

Theyhad already sold (prior action) thecarwhenI called(action in the past) . - When I called, they had already sold the car.

Sometimes, instead of a specific indication of the action, there may be an indication of the time.

She had finished studies by the 1st of July. -She finished classes To first July.

We had finished the event by the end of the month.- We're done.eventby the endmonths.

• past perfect used when narratives need to describe a chain of actions related to the past.

The policeman said that the robbers had broken window, had stolen the picture and had run away. I was standing there and couldn't understand what I should do. -Police officer said, What robbers smashed window, stole picture And ran away. I stood there and couldn't figure out what to do.

Time indicators

At any time there are indicators. To immediately recognize the Past Perfect in a sentence, look for the following words with your eyes:

1. Before - before; before.
2. Since - since then.
3. By - k.
4. For - during.
5. By the time - by the time.
6. Just - just now.
7. After - after.
8. Till\Until - until then.
9. Never - never.
10. Already - already.

In 80% of cases, one of these words will be used in a sentence. For example:

I had already prepared my presentation by the time mother prepared the dinner. - I had already finished my presentation by the time my mother cooked dinner.

She realized that she had never been to this place before. -She Understood, What never earlier Not was V this place.

But be sure to remember one thing - past perfect- this is the past tense, therefore we use it only when we talk about past events! As a rule, it is most often found in narratives and stories.

Dear ones, I am sure that you will have absolutely no questions left. Now in the public domain you can find thousands of videos, rules and exercises if you need more. But I hope that I was able to close all the gaps in your knowledge regarding this topic. And it is not the easiest, trust me! But if you still have questions - you are welcome in the comments. I will answer each one there.

In addition, I also invite you to my mailing list, where I regularly share important and useful information from my experience. Let's learn English together!

And that's all for today!

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Past perfect tense, sometimes it is called the past, refers to those English tenses that do not have exact analogues in Russian. To better understand the meaning of the Past Perfect, you can draw a parallel with the Present Perfect.

past perfect- This is an analogue of Present Perfect, only for the past. If in the Present Perfect the action has taken place by now, then in the Past Perfect - by some point in the past. This moment in the past can be expressed by another past action, which can be mentioned in a subordinate clause, or indicated in a separate sentence, as well as an adverb of time. It is often translated into Russian by the perfect past tense verb what did you do?

Past Perfect Education

Basic meaning of Past Perfect

Very often in sentences with a verb in the Past Perfect one can find characteristic adverbs and circumstances of time, namely:

Sentence examples

By the time they were rescued they had already spent three days without food and water. By the time they were rescued, they had already gone 3 days without food or water. I knew about the accident because I had watched the news the night before. I knew about the incident because watched the news last night.

Sentence examples

I had learned to read before I went to school. I learned to read before I went to school. When we arrived at the cinema the film had already started. When we arrived at the cinema, the film had already begun.

Sentence examples The Vikings had sailed to North America a thousand years ago. The Vikings came to North America thousands of years ago. The Chinese had built the Great Wall over two thousand years ago. The Chinese built the Great Wall of China about two thousand years ago. 2. past perfect used in indirect speech Sentence examples Sally said that she had lost her keys. Sally said she lost her keys. Martin replied that he had tried to call Dave the day before. Martin replied that he had tried to call Dave the day before. 3. past perfect should also be used in conditional sentences of the third type (unreal, implied condition referring to the past). Sentence examples If I had heard the weather forecast I would have taken an umbrella. If I had heard the weather forecast, I would have taken an umbrella. If we had taken the map, we wouldn't have got lost in the mountains. If we took a map, we would not get lost in the mountains. 4. Also past perfect used in sentences I wish, if only to express regret about something in the past. Sentence examples I wish I had sent her a birthday present. Too bad I didn't send her a birthday present. If only I hadn't spent so much money! If only I hadn't spent so much money! Now watch the video on Past Perfect:

In all the variety of tenses in English perfect times(perfect or completed) are remarkable in that you will not find their analogues in Russian grammar. Perhaps for this reason, many people have difficulty mastering the perfect tenses. Let's learn to understand and use these useful and interesting English Times verbs.

Strictly speaking, in English there are only two tenses (tense), where only the semantic verb is present: present (We walk) And past (He left).
All other tenses of verbs in English, and there are about thirty of them, use auxiliary verbs.

There are six main tenses, understanding which, you can understand the entire tense structure of English verbs.

• Present Simple (Present Indefinite): We play. - We play.
• Present Perfect: We have played. - We played.
• Past Simple (Past Indefinite): We played. - We played.
• Past Perfect: We had played. - we played (before a specific event in the past).
• Future Simple(Future Indefinite): We will play. - We will play.
• Future Perfect: We will have played. - We will play (until a certain event in the future).

Learners of English as a foreign language most often experience problems with Perfect tenses. This is due to the fact that they are formed a little more complicated than their "simple" counterparts: with the help of auxiliary verb and past participles (III form of the verb).

• Run (run)- ran - run
• play (play)- played - played

Auxiliary verbs are usually forms of the verbs be, can, do, may, must, ought, shall, will, have, has, had. It is these verbs and their forms that should be given.

Present Perfect Tense (Present Perfect)

Tom will repair his car on Monday. (Future Simple) - Tom will be fixing his car on Monday.

She hopes that Tom will have repaired his car by Monday evening. (Future Perfect) - She hopes that Tom will have his car fixed by Monday evening.

Quite often, times in English become for many people. But in fact, everything is quite simple: you just need to sit, understand the rules and read more texts.

Past Perfect: what is this time

This is the so-called past tense, when all the action takes place in the past, but ends before a certain moment or the beginning of another action (or event) is also in the past. In other words, this is everything that has already happened, before something else happened (which also had time to end). Everything refers to a certain time or moment, already lived and past. Usually in Past Perfect rules provide for the use of several adverbs showing an earlier event: never, ever, yet, already. Example: By the time Julia arrived at the building, Mary had already left. - By the moment Juliya got to the building, Mary had already left.

Past Perfect: education rules

Everything is very simple here. To use given time, you just need to take the second have (already familiar had) and the third form of the verb necessary for the meaning (that is, the past participle). For regular verbs, it is formed by simply adding the ending -ed, for incorrect ones, it is taken in the dictionary and memorized.

1. Affirmative form: I/You/She/They/He had read it.
2. Negative form: I/She/He/You/They had not (hadn't) read it.
3. Interrogative form: Had I/You/She/He/They read it?

Past Perfect: rules and examples of use

There are two options here that you should always consider and not forget about

1. If the described action took place before a certain point in the past. Example: By 2000, she had become a world famous singer. - By 2000 she had become a world-famous singer. Thus, a starting point is immediately set and it is indicated that she achieved success precisely by the year 2000 and not earlier (that is, a certain event or time takes place in the past).
2. If an event or action happened before the start of another action, it is also in the past. The past perfect (the rules say so) is used precisely to describe the event that happened earlier. What happened later is described by Example: She didn't want to go to the cinema with us yesterday because she had already seen The Lord of the Rings. - She didn't want to go to the cinema with us yesterday, because she had already seen "The Lord of the Rings". At the same time, the adverb used immediately demonstrates which of the described actions and events happened before the other.

Difference from other past tenses

Past Perfect (the rules for its formation are very simple and logical) differs from other times, such as Past Simple, (the rules for their formation are also quite easy: the first is formed by a simple change in the verb and means a simple action that took place in the past, without any pitfalls; the second shows that the event or action happened in the past, but ended exactly at the specified moment in the present or is completed only now.It is formed by using the form of the verb have in the present tense and the semantic verb necessary for the sentence), and it is quite easy to catch this difference. To do this, one should not only learn the form of education, but also think about the meaning of the sentence as a whole, in order to capture its logic and meaning, and not translate word for word. In the latter case, the words will simply mix up, and there will be no understanding of the text. However, with a thoughtful approach to English grammar, there will be no difficulty in understanding both written text and spoken language.

The past perfect tense or Past Perfect Tense is another complex tense form of the English language that describes events in the past tense. Since there is no analogue to this form in Russian, efforts must be made to understand its essence and assimilate it. Meaning of Past Perfect Tense What is Past Perfect Tense?

The Past Perfect tense indicates a past action that either preceded another action in the past or ended before a specific point in the past tense. For obvious reasons, it is also called "prepast".

Trace the difference between "past" and "prepast" tense in the following example:

• I was late. They had gone without me. (I was late. They left without me.)

As you can see, in these sentences in English, different tenses are used, while in Russian they are the same. In the first Past Simple. In the second Past perfect, because the action preceded the action in the first sentence. → They had already left without me before I arrived.

The past perfect tense is most often found in narratives and mainly in complex sentences.

Subl. + had + Past Participle …

The interrogative form is formed by placing the auxiliary verb to have in the Past Simple Tense (had) in the first place before the subject.

Had + Gen. + Past Participle ???

The negative form is formed by negating not, which is placed after the auxiliary verb had and in colloquial speech merges with it into one whole:

• had not - hadn't

Subl. + had + not + Past Participle …

Conjugation table of the verb to grow in Present Perfect Tense

Number	Face	affirmative form	Interrogative form	Negative form
Unit h.	1 2 3	I had (I "d) grown You had (you "d) grown He/ She/ It had (He "d/ She'd) grown	Had I grown? Had you grown? Had he/she/it grown?	I had not (hadn't) grown You had not (hadn't) grown He/ She/ It had not (hadn't) grown
Mn. h.	1 2 3	We had (we "d) grown You had (you "d) grown They had (they "d) grown	Had we grown? Had you grown? Had they grown?	We had not (hadn't) grown You had not (hadn't) grown They had not (hadn't) grown

Past Perfect Tense is used:

1. To express a past action that took place before a certain moment in the past with adverbial words that indicate the time by which the action was completed:

• by then
• by that time
• by Friday - by Friday
• by 9 o'clock - by 9 o'clock
• by the 21th of November
• by the end of the year

• They had written their compositions by Friday - They wrote their compositions by Friday
• Bill had done the work by the time his parents returned - Bill finished work by the time his parents returned
• I had finished the project by the end of the year - I finished the project by the end of the year

The point before which the action was completed can be determined by the context. For example:

• In the club I met Jim who had gone to the same college - In the club I met Jim, with whom we went to college together

Past Perfect in a compound sentence 2. In compound sentences, to express a past action that preceded another action in the past, expressed by a verb in the Past Simple. As a rule, such sentences include subordinate clauses of time after conjunctions:

• when - when
• after - after
• before
• until - until
• as soon as - as soon as

• Nick had finished his work before his boss came in - Nick finished work before his boss came in
• As soon as Nick had finished his work the door opened and his boss came in - As soon as he finished work, the door opened and the boss came in
• When I had made breakfast I rang him up - When I cooked breakfast, I called him

3. To express actions that began before a specified moment in the past and continue up to this moment. In the sentence, as a rule, there are circumstances of time that indicate the period during which the action took place:

• for a long time - for a long time
• for three years (hours, months, days) - within three years (hours, months, days)
• since - since, since then

• He realized he had been in love with her for a long time - He realized that he had been in love with her for a long time
• They had owned the house for twenty years when they decided to sell it - They had owned the house for twenty years when they decided to sell it
• He told me he had been badly ill since he returned from the South - He told me that he had been very ill since he returned from the South

4. To express intentions, desires, hopes that did not come true. Usually with verbs:

• expect - expect
• hope - hope
• want - want
• think - to think

• We had hoped we could visit them tomorrow but it's beginning to look difficult - I hoped that we could visit them tomorrow, but it seems that it will not be easy.
• She had intended to cook a dinner but she ran out of time - She was going to cook dinner, but did not have time

5. In subordinate clauses of time, the action of which is future in relation to past events. This action must precede the action in the main clause. In this case, Past Perfect Tense is translated into the future tense. Examples:

• I promised that I would go home after I had done all my work - I promised that I would come home after I had done all my work
• She decided she wouldn't do anything till he had explained the situation - She decided that she would not do anything until he explained the situation

The past perfect tense is not easy to learn right away. It takes a lot of practice to master this material well.

Check out the following videos that you might be interested in:

Simple and understandable explanation examples Perfect Tense (Past Complete Tense)