PAST PERFECT TENSE - Hav Education Center

       

   

   PAST PERFECT  TENSE

A.    FUNCTIONS OF THE PAST PERFECT

The past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now.  It is used to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter  which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened first.

In these examples, Event A is the event that happened first and  Event  B is the second or more recent event:

Event A                                               Event B

John had gone out                               when I arrived in the office.

I had saved my document                  before the computer crashed.

When they arrived                              we had already started cooking.

He was very tired                                because he hadn't slept well.

B.     FORMING THE PAST PERFECT

The Past Perfect tense in English is composed of two parts: the past tense of the verb to have (had) + the past participle of the main verb.

Subject	had	past participle
Affirmative
She	had	given
Negative
She	hadn't	asked
Interrogative
Had	they	arrived?

2.    

Related Posts