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Past Perfect Tense
What Is the Past Perfect Tense? (with Examples)
The past perfect tense describes a completed activity in the past. It is used to emphasize that an action was completed before another action took place. For example:- John had baked a cake before you arrived.
- They had painted the fence before I had a chance to speak to them.
Table of Contents
- More Examples of the Past Perfect Tense
- Forming the Past Perfect Tense
- Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables
- Video Lesson
- The Other Past Tenses
- Printable Test
More Examples of the Past Perfect Tense
Here are some more examples of the past perfect tense (shaded):- Silverfinger had taken the pill before the team reached him. (First: He took the pill. Next: The team reached him.)
- I had called the police before I investigated the noise in the garden. (First: I called the police. Next: I investigated the noise.)
- The weather changed, but the team had planned its next move. (First: The team planned. Next: The weather changed.)
Forming the Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is formed:"had"
+ [past participle]
- I had jumped
- I had met
Forming the Past Participle (Regular Verbs)
If it's a regular verb, the past participle is the same as the simple past tense. In other words, it is formed like this:Add "ed" to most verbs:
- jump > jumped
- paint > painted
- chat > chatted
- stop > stopped
- sew > sewed
- play > played
- fix > fixed
- incur > incurred
- prefer > preferred
- open > opened
- enter > entered
- swallow > swallowed
- thrive > thrived
- guzzle > guzzled
If the verb ends [consonant + "y"], change the "y" to an "i" and add "ed":
- cry > cried
- fry > fried
Forming the Past Participle (Irregular Verbs)
If it's an irregular verb, the past participle is formed in all sorts of different ways. Here are some examples:- arise > arisen
- catch > caught
- choose > chosen
- know > known
The Negative Version
If you need the negative version, you can use the following construction:"had not"
+ [past participle]
- Silverfinger had not taken the pill before the team reached him.
- I had not called the police before I investigated the noise in the garden.
- The weather changed, and the team had not planned its next move.
The Question Version
If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:"had"
+ [subject]
+ [past participle]
- Had Silverfinger taken the pill before the team reached him?
- Had the team planned its next move before the weather changed?
[question word]
+ "had"
+ [subject]
+ [past participle]
- Why had Silverfinger taken the pill before the team reached him?
- Where had the team planned its next move before the weather changed?
Using Contractions
Don't forget that in speech and writing (especially informal writing), you will encounter the following contractions:- I had > I'd
- You had > You'd
- He had > He'd
- She had > She'd
- It had > It'd
- We had > We'd
- They had > They'd
Infographic for the Past Perfect Tense

Top 10 Regular Verbs
Top 10 Irregular Verbs
All 4 Past Tenses
Person | Simple Past | Past Progressive Tense | Past Perfect Tense | Past Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.
|
The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.
|
The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.
|
The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.
|
All 4 Present Tenses
Person | Simple Present | Present Progressive Tense | Present Perfect Tense | Present Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.
|
The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.
|
The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)
|
The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).
|
All 4 Future Tenses
Person | Simple Future | Future Progressive Tense | Future Perfect Tense | Future Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.
|
The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.
|
The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.
|
The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.
|
The Other Past Tenses
The past perfect tense is one of four past tenses. This table shows all four of the past tenses:The 4 Past Tenses | Example |
---|---|
simple past tense | I went |
past progressive tense | I was going |
past perfect tense | I had gone |
past perfect progressive tense | I had been going |
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