Past perfect simple

Verb tenses

1. The past perfect

- Why couldn't you get in your car?

- Because I had left the keys inside.

2. How is the past perfect built?

• Affirmative form
  

  Subject	AuxiliarY	Verb (past participle)	Examples
  I	had 'd	arrived	I had arrived home when you called me.
  You			You had arrived home when you called me.
  He			He had arrived home when you called me.
  She			She had arrived home when you called me.
  It			It had arrived home when you called me.
  We			We had arrived home when you called me.
  You			You had arrived home when you called me.
  They			They had arrived home when you called me.

  Remember that to form the past perfect, the main verb has to be in past participle. With regular verbs we will add -ed to the end of the main verb. For irregular verbs we will look at the 3rd column of the list of irregular verbs.
• Negative form
  

  Subject	AuxiliarY	Verb (past participle)	Examples
  I	hadn't had not	arrived	I hadn't arrived home when you called me.
  You			You hadn't arrived home when you called me.
  He			He hadn't arrived home when you called me.
  She			She hadn't arrived home when you called me.
  It			It hadn't arrived home when you called me.
  We			We hadn't arrived home when you called me.
  You			You hadn't arrived home when you called me.
  They			They hadn't arrived home when you called me.

• Interrogative form
  

  AuxiliarY	Subject	Verb (past participle)	Examples
  Had	I	arrived?	Had I arrived home when you called me?
  	you		Had you arrived home when you called me?
  	he		Had he arrived home when you called me?
  	she		Had she arrived home when you called me?
  	it		Had it arrived home when you called me?
  	we		Had we arrived home when you called me?
  	you		Had you arrived home when you called me?
  	they		Had they arrived home when you called me?

Like the other verb tenses, the interrogative sentences in past perfect also have their own short answers.

- Had she read the documents before she signed them?

- Yes, she had.

3. How do we use the past perfect?

The past perfect is used for:

• An action that occurred before another action in the past.
  
  

  - So when you got to the party...

  In this example the action we have as reference is the one in the simple past tense, that is, the moment she got to the party.

  

  - I realized I had forgotten the gift.

  The action of forgetting the gift occurred before arriving at the party.
• An action that occurred before a particular point in the past.
  
  

  The snow had already melted by midday.

  

  He had never seen the sea before that day.
• A repeated action that occurred on different occasions until a specific moment in the past.
  
  

  - I visited the Louvre again last week.

  

  - But you had visited it three times already.

  The repeated action is visiting the Louvre, it took place on different occasions before the specific moment in the past (last week).
• An action that began at a particular point in the past and continued until another point in the past when it ended.
  
  

  - Paul sold his car last month because it was old.

  

  - Yes, He had had it for nearly 20 years.

  He bought at some point in the past and he had it from that point in the past until another point in the past (when he sold it).

Remember!