Other perfect tenses
Lessons (1h): The Past Perfect
Past perfect: "I had looked", "I had worked". A past event or action BEFORE a specified past time.
Present perfect: "I have looked", "I have worked". A past situation; it is not finished.
Future perfect: "I will have looked", "I will have worked". An action BEFORE a specified future time.
The present perfect is for actions or situations in the past which are still continuing in the present. For example “I have liked Coca-Cola since I was six” (and I still like Coca-Cola) or “I have been here since 8.30” (and I am still here). It is also for finished actions and situations, if they are within a period of time which is not finished. For example “I have drunk two cups of coffee today”. I am not drinking coffee now, but today is still continuing. Click here for more about the present perfect.
The Past Perfect
The past perfect takes us one step further back in time. We use it to talk about actions or situations in the past - before a certain past time. It is sometimes called the "pluperfect".
The past perfect talks about a past event that occurred before a specified past time:
Past perfect, positive and negative:
| POSITIVE | NEGATIVE |
|---|---|
| "I had been to Austria several times"... | "...but I had never visited Krems until last year." |
| "The afternoon train was late because an earlier train had been late". | "There hadn't been enough train drivers in the morning". |
| "They'd been talking in French"... | ..."but when the teacher arrived they started talking English." |
| "She'd hoped to get the job"... | ..."but she hadn't expected them to ask 'Can you start on Monday?'". |
Past perfect, questions and answers:
| QUESTIONS | ANSWERS |
|---|---|
| “Had you ever run a marathon before you attempted this one?” | "No, but I'd done three half-marathons." | "Hadn't he been skiing before?" | "No. He'd done lots of snowboarding, but he hadn't ever tried skiing." |
Past simple or past perfect?
Is the past perfect tense really necessary, or is it just a literary technique to make things more interesting?
Good question!
We often use a past simple to specify the past time ("When I woke up, I found that...") and a past perfect to say what happened before that ("...Simon had cleaned the kitchen").
If you just want to talk about a sequence of events, you can use two past simple tenses, and a word like "before", "after", "next", "then" or "when": "Simon cleaned the kitchen before I woke up." It's a bit less interesting, but it's OK. Here's another example of a sequence of three past simple tenses: "I got up, then I had breakfast, then I walked into town." Again, it's not very interesting, but it's very clear.
When do we NEED a past perfect?
(1) To show a close connection between the specified past time and the thing before it; more than just a sequence of events. The most obvious close connection is cause and effect - "because" or "so". "Because I'd had breakfast, I wasn't hungry." "I'd had breakfast, so I wasn't hungry."
(2) When the sequence of events is not obvious from words like "before", "after", "next" or "when". For example, "I visited my friend, who sent me a message." Was the message before the visit? We don't really know. "I visited my friend, who had sent me a message." Aha, the message was before the visit.
(3) With signal words in the past. Signal words tell you to use a past perfect. The most important signal word is "...already...". "I didn't want to see Avatar again, I'd already seen it." Also: "By the end of..." and "Before that day...".
In the examples below, it's best to use the past perfect, but can we use the past simple? Maybe:
| PAST PERFECT | Does it work? | PAST SIMPLE | Does it work? |
|---|---|---|---|
| "She had already closed the door when she heard the telephone ring." | Yes | " |
No; "already" in the past is a signal word. |
| "She closed the door; then she heard the telephone ring." | Yes. | ||
| "By the end of 2005, I had worked on this project for 1500 hours." | Yes | " |
No; "by the end of" in the past is a signal word. |
| But you can say "I worked on this project for 1500 hours before the end of 2005." | Yes | ||
| "Before that day, he had never seen a tiger." | Yes | " |
Well, OK, if you must. It's not pretty, though. |
| "Even before his 18th birthday, he had decided to become a musician." | Yes | "Even before his 18th birthday, he decided to become a musician." | Yes, but it's not pretty. |
| "Hadn't he been skiing before?" "No. He'd done lots of snowboarding, but he hadn't ever tried skiing." | Yes | "Did he go skiing before?" "No. He did lots of snowboarding, but he didn't ever try skiing." | Yes, but it's not pretty. |
| "By the time dinner was ready, they had washed the car." | Yes | "They washed the car before dinner was ready." | Yes. |
| "I had been to Austria several times, but I had never visited Krems until last year." | Yes | "I went to Austria several times before I visited Krems last year." | Yes |
| "They'd been talking in French but when the teacher arrived they started talking English." | Yes | "They were talking French but when the teacher arrived they started talking English." | Yes |
| "The interview went well. She'd hoped to get the job, but she hadn't expected them to ask 'Can you start on Monday?'". | Yes | "The interview went well. She hoped to get the job, but she didn't expect them to ask 'Can you start on Monday?'." | Yes. |
| "Had you ever run a marathon before you attempted this one?” "No, but I'd done three half-marathons." | Yes | "Did you ever run a marathon before you attempted this one?” "No, but I did three half-marathons." | Yes |
Exercise: Use the Past Perfect
1. I ___________ never __________ (to climb) a real mountain until I went to the Alps.
2. I saw a great book, but I didn’t buy it, because I ________ ______ (to lose) my wallet.
3. John knew Prague very well because he ______ __________ (to work) in the city several times.
4. ______ Sarah ever _________ (to study) French before she moved to Paris?
5. She only understood the film because she _______ already ________ (to read) the book.
6. Simon _____ ______ (to go) to the theatre before, but he ______ ________ ________ (never / to see) an opera before last night).
7. The hotel was very busy, but we were able to get a double room because we ____ _________ (to book) in advance.
8. A: _______ you _________ (to visit) Japan before your trip to Kyushu?
B: Yes, I ______ _______ (to go) to Osaka.