English past perfect tense. Past perfect examples of the construction and use of expressions in colloquial speech

past perfect formed with the help to had in past tense form ( had- for all persons) and the past participle of the semantic verb: I / he had written. Past Participle (participle) of regular verbs is formed by adding the ending to the infinitive –ed: to invite- invite ed. When added to a verb –ed sometimes there are changes in its spelling: to stop - stopp ed. Past Participle of irregular verbs must be remembered: to tell-told-told. Additionally about.

Abbreviated forms:

‘d= had
hadn't= had not

Using the Past Perfect

1. An action that took place before another action in the past. Indicated by the notation of time ( by Monday - by Monday, by evening - by evening, by 3 o'clock - by 3 o'clock, by that time - by that time) or other (later) actions expressed by time .

Examples: I had came to them by 5 o'clock. I came to them at 5 o'clock.
I had translated the text by Wednesday. – I translated the text by Wednesday.
my parents were glad to hear that I had passed all exams. My parents were happy to hear that I passed all the exams. (first I passed the exams - Past Perfect is used, and then my parents heard about it - Past Simple is used, i.e. one action happened before another)
my sister said that I had given her wrong address. My sister said I gave her the wrong address. (first I gave my sister the wrong address - Past Perfect is used, and then the sister said that the address was wrong - Past Simple is used, i.e. one action happened before the other)

2. An action that began up to a certain moment in the past and lasted until that moment. Past Perfect is used most often with verbs that are not used in the Continuous form. Additionally about.

Examples: When Sally arrived to the party, her friends had been there for half an hour. When Sally came to the party, her friends had already been there for half an hour.

3. Verbs in the Past Perfect can express two or more previous actions, and one of them can precede the other.

Examples: She said that she had drawn the money from her account and (had) sent them to her sister. She said she had withdrawn money from her account and sent it to her sister. (action expressed by the verb had drawn precedes the action expressed by the verb had sent)

4. If two or more past actions are transmitted in the sequence in which they occurred (i.e., actions are listed), the Past Simple form is used.

Examples: He entered room, took something from the desk and went out. He entered the room, took something from the desk and left. (here the verbs entered, took, went out denote a chain of actions that followed one after another, so they are expressed using Past Simple)

5. If the sequence of actions is interrupted by a mention of previously completed actions, then such previously completed actions are used in the Past Perfect.

Examples: He entered the room which he had reserved the day before, took something from the desk and went out. He entered the room he had booked the day before, took something from the desk and left. (here the verbs entered, took, went out denote a chain of actions that followed the bottom after another, so they are expressed using the Past Simple. These actions are interrupted by the verb had reserved- an action that happened earlier, therefore Past Perfect is used here)

The Past Perfect Tense, also pluperfect tense, is used for an action that happened before another. Very often used with . Learn how to conjugate the past perfect tense in English, as well as learn the rules, examples, and cases of using the Past Perfect. After the rules, you can do exercises to test your grammar skills. In Russian, we pronounce this time [paste perfect] - English transcription.

Text on the topic Past Perfect. Read and pay attention to the underlined words.

I had never seen such beautiful sights before I visited Cardiff in 2013. I had saved money for 4 years before I booked my trip to Cardiff. I was very excited! Before my trip to Cardiff, I had never been out of Germany.
When I went to Cardiff, I spent many days touring that wonderful city. The city was not so big. Sometimes I got lost and asked for directions. I asked for directions in English. That was easy because I had studied English for 3 years before I visited Cardiff.
By the time I left Cardiff, I had toured many beautiful places. National Museum of Cardiff, Cardiff Castle, Wales Millennium Centre. Before I visited Cardiff, I had only seen those places on television.

Past Perfect Education Rules

The Past Perfect is formed using the Past Indefinite auxiliary verb to have and Participle II (past participle) of the semantic verb.

Formula:

Cases of using Past Perfect

Let's look at the rules of use and examples of sentences in the Past Perfect, which will help you understand the use of this difficult tense in English.

1. An action in the past that happened before a certain moment in the past or an action happened before another

example:

— The party had already started by the time I arrived - By the time I arrived, the party had already begun. (The past action happened before the other).
Rob had finished by 9 o'clock - Rob finished by 9 o'clock. (An action in the past that happened before someone at a certain point in the past).
— Abby missed the end of the film because she had fallen asleep - Abby missed the end of the movie because she fell asleep.
— I had finished most of the work by the time my boss arrived - I had finished most of the work by the time my boss arrived.

2. As seen in the examples above, the Past Perfect is usually used in conjunction with

example:

— I had sold my apartment before I moved to London - I sold my apartment before I moved to London.
— I went outside as I had heard a strange noise - I went outside because I heard a strange sound.
— My mother was so angry because I hadn't done the shopping for her - My mom was so angry because I didn't shop for her.
— I had never seen such beautiful sights before I visited Cardiff in 2013 - I have never seen such beautiful sights before visiting Cardiff in 2013.

3. Completed actions in the past that have a visible result in the past

example:

— He was sad because he had missed the train - He was sad because he missed the train. (Visible result in the past; he was sad).
— She was pleased because she had been given the job - She was happy because she got the job.

4. Past Perfect is the equivalent

example:

Lauren can't find her keys. She has lost it - Laurent can't find his keys. She lost them. ( Present Perfect).
Lauren couldn't find her keys. She had lost it - Laurent couldn't find her watch. She lost them. (Past perfect).
— There was no juice left because Ted had drunk it all - Juice ran out because Ted drank it all.

5. Two actions that happened in the past and we need to show which happened first

example:

—When I left the house, I realized that I had forgotten my keys - When I left the house, I realized that I forgot my keys. (The first action - I forgot the keys; at first I forgot them, then I went out and remembered).
— After I had finished digging the garden I decided to go for a walk - After I finished digging in the garden, I decided to go for a walk. (The first action is had finished).
— I lent Betty some money only after she had promised to give it back the next day - I borrowed some money from Betty only after she promised that she would return it the next day. (First action - had promised).

6. The Past Perfect Tense in indirect speech

Usually the past perfect is used in indirect speech when the verb is in the past form.

example:

— “I had a brilliant time,” Mr Jones said - Mr. Jones said: “I had a great time.”
— Mr Jones said that he had had a brilliant time - Mr. Jones said he had a great time.
— No one told me that the mall had closed Nobody told me that the mall was closed.

7. The past perfect often refers to situations that have changed.

In colloquial speech had often emphasized.

example:

A: What are you going to do this evening? – What are you going to do tonight?
-B:I had wanted to go to a bar but look at the weather! I wanted to go to a bar, but look at the weather! (We focus on the verb had and the meaning is: now I have changed my mind about going to a bar).

8. Past Perfect in conditional sentences of the 3rd type

example:

— He wouldn't have missed the meeting if he had been on time - He wouldn't miss the meeting if he was on time. (But he didn't show up on time, so he missed the meeting.)

We use this type of conditional sentence when we regret something or cannot change the situation in the present, because in the past, the action was not performed.

9. Past Perfect is used with hardly…when, scarcely…when, no sooner…than, barely…when

Often they are used when one event immediately follows another.

example:

— I had hardly arrived to work when it started to hail - I had barely arrived at work when the hail began.
— We had scarcely finished eating when the doorbell rang - We had barely finished eating when the doorbell rang.
— She had barely won the competition when her fans started to clap - She had barely won the competition when her fans started clapping.
— I had no sooner turned my new computer on than it went down - I didn't have time to turn on my new computer when it broke down.

• In order to emphasize, the word order can be changed.

Compare:

— Hardly had I arrived to work when it started to hail - As soon as I arrived at work, the hail began.
— scarcely had we finished eating when the doorbell rang - As soon as we finished eating, the doorbell rang.
— Barely had she won the competitions when her fans started to clap - As soon as she won the competition, her fans began to clap.
— No sooner had I turned my new computer on than it went down - Before I could turn on my new computer, it broke down.

Remember that hardly, hardly, scarcely are followed by when. No sooner is used with than.(Sooner is a comparative form of soon).

10. Three conjunctions are used with this tense

These unions are very often found in dialogues, books, newspapers. Past Perfect is introduced by conjunctions such as when, before, after. They help us recognize the past perfect tense.

example:

— Liza had left when Henry arrived.
or
—Henry arrived when Liza had left.

• take notes:

The most common mistake with the Past Perfect Simple is that this tense is overused or used when talking about the distant past.

For example, native speakers won't say that:

— The Romans had spoken Latin - The Romans spoke Latin.

But it's best to say:

— The Romans spoke Latin.

Because it describes a past event, not an event before another past event.

Verbs that cause confusion

A verb combination that often causes confusion in the Simple Past Perfect is Had Had.

For example:

— He had had enough to eat but he wanted an ice-cream anyway.

The first had is an auxiliary verb, in English Auxiliary or helping verb. The second verb had is in the past participle, that is, the past participle. This sentence can be written in English like this:
- Even though he ate enough, he wanted an ice-cream after that - Despite the fact that he ate, he wanted ice cream.

Marker words (pointer words) in Past Perfect

Signal words help us recognize what tense is used in a sentence. The clue words for the past perfect tense are listed below:
For, since, already, after, just, never, yet, not yet, once, before, by, by the time.

Some satellite words of the Past Perfect are the same as for. The difference is that the auxiliary words for the past perfect refer to the past tense, not the present.

Example sentences with words with time markers:

— He had already eaten by the time we arrived - By the time we arrived, he had already eaten.
— I had never been out of Germany - I have never been outside of Germany.
— He had cooked dinner before Ann came - He cooked dinner before Anna came.

Sentence forms in Past Perfect

To conjugate the past perfect tense in English, we follow the rule: had + past participle. The tables below show examples of affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences. Be sure to pay attention to the abbreviated forms that are often used in colloquial speech.

Affirmative sentences

The affirmative form in English is built according to the scheme:
Subject + had + verb 3 + Rest of sentence

Who? Who?	Form of verb (verb form)	Examples (examples)
I	had + Verb 3	I had cleaned the floor
He/She/It	had + Verb 3	He had crashed into a tree She had saved money It had lost the wallet
You	had + Verb 3	You had seen the city
We	had + Verb 3	We had found a coin
They	had + Verb 3	They had ridden a bike

Negative sentences

The formula for the formation of negative sentences in Past Perfect:
Subject + had + not + verb 3 + Rest of sentence.
Remember that the particle not comes after the auxiliary verb.

Who? Who?	Form of verb (verb form)	Examples (examples)
I	had + not + Verb 3	I had not been cleaned the floor
He/She/It	had + not + Verb 3	He had not crashed into a tree She had not saved money It had not lost the wallet
You	had + not + Verb 3	You had not seen the city
We	had + not + Verb 3	We had not been found a coin
They	had + not + Verb 3	They had not ridden a bike

Abbreviated form of negative sentences:
— I hadn't crashed into a tree.

Interrogative sentences

In interrogative sentences Past The perfect auxiliary verb comes before the subject.

verb to have	Who? Who?	Form of verb (verb form)	Examples (examples)
Had	I	Verb 3	Had I cleaned the floor?
Had	He/She/It	Verb 3	Had he crashed into a tree? Had she saved money? Had it lost the wallet?
Had	You	Verb 3	Had you seen the city?
Had	We	Verb 3	Had we found a coin?
Had	They	Verb 3	Had they ridden a bike?

Shortened interrogative-negative form:

— Had they not ridden a bike?
— Hadn't they ridden a bike?

Difference between Past Simple and Past Perfect

We use to describe events in chronological order. Past Perfect [paste perfect] we use to describe that one of the events happened before. Compare two sentences:

— When he arrived, his wife left– When he arrived, his wife left (She left after his arrival).
— When he arrived, his wife had left– When he arrived, his wife left (She left before he arrived).

A detailed article that will reveal the topic - The difference between Past Simple and Past Perfect

General Table Past Perfect

Offer types	PAST PERFECT
Affirmative sentence	S + had + V.3 (past participle) S- subject
Negative sentence	S + had not (hadn't) + V.3 (past participle) S- subject
Interrogative sentence (general question)	Had + S + V.3…?(past participle) S- subject WH-why, where, when, etc.
Special question	WH + had + S + V.3 + …? S- subject WH-why, where, when, etc.

Exercises and answers for Past Perfect

Do past perfect tests to reinforce the material. In order to better remember new words and rules, we advise you to write all the exercises in a notebook.

Exercise 1. Open parenthesis. And write which action started first.

1. When she (leave) the house, she (realise) that she (forget) her keys.
First action is…

2. When I (see) Olga (realise) that I (meet) her before.
First action is…

3. Sara (start) studying after Sam (leave).
First action is…

4. They kept arguing about the money their mother (leave) them in her will when she (die).
First action is…

5. After I (finish) my homework I (decide) to go for a walk.
First action is…

Answers. Answers to the exercise:

1. left, realized, had forgotten. First action was forgotten
2. saw, realized, had met: had met
3. started, had left: had left
4. had left, died: had left
5 had finished, decided: had finished

Exercise 2. Expand the brackets using Past Simple or Past Perfect

1. I was worried because Peter (not call) yet.

2. I was so worried that I (call) Peter.

3. She (go) to the market and (buy) some vegetables.

4. Nancy (be) in a hospital for five weeks before she fully recovered.

5. My brother was upset because he (fail) the exam.

6. They got on the motorbike and (drive) away.

7. Nobody (know) where Ryan (put) the front door key.

8. I (be) 21 and I (just/leave) college.

9. When I (arrive), the show (start/already).

10. There were no sweets left when I came back. My sister (eat) them.

Answers. Answers to the exercise:

1. hadn't called
2. called
3. went, bought
4. had been
5.had failed
6. drove
7. knew, had put
8. was, had just left
9. arrived, had already started
10. had eaten

Exercise 3. Put the sentences in the interrogative and negative forms.

1. They (not practice) enough, so they lost the match.

2. When I came home, Ted (not paint) the walls yet.

3. The parrot flew away because my little brother (not close) the window.

4. I went to the country which I (not visit) before.

5. My parents (never go) to the UK either.

6. you (hear) the news before they told you?

7. What did she (find) before she cried?

8. you (finish) drinking your tea when Rob came?

9. she (have) breakfast before she left the flat?

10. Why Lucy (not clean) the kitchen before her mother-in-law came?

Answers. Answers to the exercise:

1. hadn't practiced
2. hadn't painted
3. hadn't closed
4. hadn't visited
5. had never gone
6. had you heard
7. had she found
8. had you finished
9. had she had
10. hadn't Lucy cleaned

Without violating tradition, we suggest that you make 5, and preferably 10 sentences in Past Perfect Tense. Don't forget to share your achievements in the comments below the article.

What is Past Perfect in English?

This is the time that shows that some action happened before another. Imagine that you woke up in the morning, had breakfast and decided to go to the mall. As you got closer to the car, you saw that someone had written on the window: Your soul was here.

And when you tell this story to your friends, then you will need exactly this time, which is described in this article. It might sound like this in English:

— I had a quick cup of black coffee, got dressed and went out to the car. When I drew up closer to the car, I saw that someone had defaced my windscreen.
This way, your friends will be able to understand that someone messed up your windshield at some point in the past before you saw it.

Watch clips from films on our YouTube channel, how actors use the Past Perfect.

Past perfect - Past Perfect

Designations: + statement, ? question, - negation.

+			?			-
... had + III.			Had ... +III?			... had not + III.
I	had painted.		Had	I	painted?	I	had not painted.
You				you		You
We				we		We
They				they		They
He				he		He
She				she		She
It				it		It

Abbreviations: I had = I "d, you had = you" d, we had = we "d, they had = they" d, he had = he "d, she had = she" d, it had = X, had not = hadn"t ().

-ed pronounced according to the following rules:
1. [d]- after vowels and voiced consonants:
[b], [?], [v], [ð], [z], [?], , [m], [n], [?], [l], [j], [w], [ r]; except [d] (item 3)
2. [t]- after voiceless consonants:
[p], [k], [f], [θ], [s], [?], [h], ; except [t] (item 3)
3. [?d]- after sounds [d] and [t]

Note: About sounds - in the material "Sounds of the English language. Phonetic notes".

Using the Past Perfect

1. Past Perfect is an action that ended up to a certain point in the past. The period can be defined:
A. Circumstance of time.
By Thursday she had already prepared for the journey. By Wednesday, she had already prepared for the trip.
In such sentences, the expression by + time (to which the action took place) is used.
by midnight
by six o "clock
by Friday
by the 20 th of June
by the end of the month
by then/by that time
by that moment
and etc.
b. Another, later past action, expressed in Past Simple.
When I looked out of the window the rain had already started. When I looked out the window, it was already raining.
V. context or situation.
He showed me the ring he had bought for her. He showed me the ring he bought for not.
2. Past Perfect is often used instead of Past Perfect Continuous to express an action that began before a certain moment in the past and was still going on at that moment. It is used with verbs that are not used in the continuous form.
When Grace came to the destination Austin had already been there for an hour. When Grace arrived at the appointed place, Austin had already been there for an hour.
In such proposals, the period of time must be specified.

Note 1: Verbs that express desire, intention and hope are used in the Past Perfect to indicate that this intention, hope or desire did not come true.
He had expected you to support but you didn't. He expected you to help, but you didn't.

Note 2: Sometimes when Not emphasis should be placed on duration important fact his accomplishments, the Past Perfect is used.
When I got my first job I had lived outskirts of town. When I got my first job, I lived on the outskirts of the city.
But grammatically it would be more correct to use the long form:
When I got my first job I was living outskirts of town.

3. Past Perfect is a future perfect action in the past in subordinate clauses of time.
She said that Michael would come back as soon as he had done all work. She said that Michael would return as soon as he finished all the work.
4. Past Perfect is used in constructions with the words hardly / scarcely (barely), as well as with the adverb no sooner (only; as soon as).
He had hardly entered the room when the phone rank. As soon as he entered the room, the telephone rang.
or the same but with a different word order:
Hardly had he entered the room when the phone rank.
He had no sooner come home then he saw his brother. As soon as he entered the room, the telephone rang.
with a different word order:
No sooner had he come home then he saw his brother.

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.

As we know, the British love order in everything, and English language- not an exception. In their opinion, each action should have its own order. In Russian, we use the same tense to express all past actions. We list a few events, then return to another event that happened before all the others. An Englishman will never tolerate such "chaos" in his speech. If he forgot about important event, which happened before everyone else, then he will report about it in the time specially allotted for this called Past Perfect. About him today and will be discussed. C "mon!

What is Past Perfect

Past Perfect Tense is the past perfect tense. We usually use it to talk about an action that ended at or before some point in the past.

For example: When he read the book, he went to bed.

What was the first action? First he read a book and then went to bed. That is, by the time he went to bed, he had already read the book. To show that the first action ended before the second happened, in the first part of the sentence, you need to use the Past Perfect - “When he had read the book, he went to bed.” In other words, we use the Past Perfect to show the sequence of actions, that is, that one action in the past happened before another.

How Past Perfect is formed (formulas + examples)

• Statement. The predicate in the Past Perfect consists of two parts: the auxiliary verb " had" And third form of main verb(to the correct verb we add the ending "- ed", and we take the form of the wrong one from the third column of the table of irregular verbs).

• Negation. In a negative sentence between the auxiliary verb " had"and the main verb appears particle" not».

As in many other tenses, the Past Perfect has abbreviated forms that are used in colloquial speech. IN affirmative sentence " had» unites With pronoun, V negative- with particle " not". For example:

I'd come.
You'd finished.
I hadn't come.
You hadn't finished.

• Question. An interrogative sentence begins with the auxiliary verb " had", followed by subject And main verb.

Past Perfect Marker Words

If the sentence contains the following words, then it refers to the Past Perfect Tense:

by- To;
hardly… when / no sooner… than- as soon as, barely, I did not have time;
after- after;
earlier- earlier, before - before;
first- first;
when- When;
just- just now;
already- already;
yet- already, not yet.

Past Perfect marker table

Marker	Example	Translation
by	Unfortunately, most of the audience hadn't stayed by the end of the play.	Unfortunately, by the end of the performance, most of the audience left.
hardly...when	Hardly had they crossed the road when the accident happened.	As soon as they crossed the road, an accident happened.
no sooner… than	No sooner he had came in than he heard congratulations and his friends gathered around him.a	As soon as he entered, he heard congratulations and friends gathered around him.
after	After boy had done his hometask he went out to play football with his friends.	After the boy did his homework, he went for a walk.
earlier	She knew how to cook a cake because she had made it earlier.	She knew how to bake a cake because she had made it before.
before	James easily won this game because he had played it many times before.	James played the game easily as he had played it many times before.
first	First we had taken all our bags, then understood that we forgot our tickets on the table.	At first we took things, and then we realized that we forgot the tickets on the table.
when	John had sat to work when his boss called for him.	John sat down to work when his boss called him.
just	I just had sat to have lunch when my friend called me.	I had just sat down to have lunch when my friend called me.
already	We had already bought a cake when Jill called us and told that she bought a cake too.	We had already bought a cake when Jill called us and said that she also bought a cake.
yet	I hadn't served the table yet when the guests came.	I had not yet set the table when the guests arrived.

Cases of using Past Perfect:

• The Past Perfect shows an action that happened before another action or a specific moment in the past. Another action in the past is most often indicated by Past Simple, and special words can be used: “ by"(to some time/moment)," after" (after), " before"(before, before)," when" (When), " earlier" (earlier), " first» (at first, at first).

Before Anna called her husband she had finished all the work. Before Anna called her husband, she finished all the work.

Nota bene: if actions are put in chronological okay, then you need to use Past Simple:

Anna finished all work and called her husband. Anna finished all the work and (then) called her husband (chronological order).

• The Past Perfect explains the reason: we want to show that the action expressed by the Past Perfect has become cause that another action has taken place.

He was hungry. He hadn't eaten for eight hours. - He was hungry. He hasn't eaten in eight hours.

She couldn't buy a new pair of shoes as she had lost her credit card. She couldn't buy a new pair of shoes because she lost her credit card.

• The Past Perfect is used after " if» in conditional sentences of the third type ( third conditional). This type of conditional shows regret about the past. We could do something in the past if we fulfilled the condition, but in the present we can no longer change the situation.

If I had known about your problem, I would have helped you. - If I knew about your problem, I would help you.
If you had read the morning newspaper, you would have agreed with me. - If you read the morning paper, you would agree with me.

• Past Perfect is used in constructions " hardly … when" And " no sooner … than". These constructions show that one action happened immediately after another. The peculiarity is that they use back order words, as in the question. Such sentences are translated into Russian using the words "as soon as ...", "I did not have time ...", "I barely ...".

Hardly had the plane landed at the Miami airport, when it started to rain. - As soon as the plane landed at Miami airport, it started to rain.
No sooner had I chewed my sandwich than somebody knocked at the door. - Before I could chew my sandwich, someone knocked on the door.

• Enumeration of actions in the past that happened before the time of the story generally:

I finally caught Lucky and looked around. The nasty dog had scratched furniture, had torn the wallpapers and had eaten my lunch on the table. - I finally caught Lucky and looked around. The nasty dog ​​scratched the furniture, tore the wallpaper and ate my dinner on the table.

Education Past Perfect Passive

Like most times, Past Perfect has passive construction .

• Statement: subject + had been + verb 3 forms + [by an object].

The test had been finished by the end of the day.- The test was completed by the end of the day.
The picture had been painted by the Monday. - The picture was drawn by Monday.

Negation: subject + had + not + been + verb 3 forms + [by an object].

The test had not been finished by the end of the day. - The test was not completed by the end of the day.
The bicycle had not been repaired by 2 o'clock. - The bike had not been repaired by two o'clock.

Question: had + subject + been + verb 3 shapes + [by object]?

Had the questions been discussed before the exam?- Were the questions discussed before the exam?
Had the picture been painted by the Monday?- The picture was drawn by Monday?

Present Perfect vs Past Perfect

Very often, when translating from Russian into English, you can get confused in choosing the right time, because they both have similar features. Let's look at the table to get rid of doubts about the differences between Present Perfect and Past Perfect.

Difference between Present Perfect and Past Perfect

Indicates that the action expressed Time Present Perfect, completed by now or in the present time period: The shopping center has just opened. - The mall just opened.	Indicates that the action expressed by the Past Perfect time happened before another action or a certain moment in the past: We came to the office, but the administrator had already gone away. - We came to the office, and the administrator had already left.
Shows that the action happened in the past, it is unknown and no matter when exactly, but its result is visible in the present: He knows her name. They have already met. - He knows her name. They have already met.	Shows that an action happened in the past and became the cause, led to the fact that another action happened in the past: My brother felt hungry. He had not eaten since yesterday. - My brother was hungry. He hasn't eaten since yesterday.

Nota bene: We recommend that you read a little theory again and complete the task in our online simulator so that you never again have doubts about using Past Perfect.

Conclusion

So, today we examined the forms of formation of affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences in the Past Perfect, both in the active and in the passive voice. We remembered which markers you should pay attention to, and figured out how not to confuse the Present Perfect and Past Perfect with each other. But the most important thing to remember is that next to the Past Perfect there should be one more action in the past.

We offer you to get acquainted with other tenses of the English language

Learn English easy and get skillful!

Big and friendly family EnglishDom