Present perfect and past perfect
Past perfect simple
affirmative, negative, yes/no, wh- questionsb1+
Past perfect simple
Grammar contents
- When we arrived at the station, the train had just left.
- Sam was disappointed because he hadn't won.
- The door was open. Had someone been there before me?
- I didn't understand it. Why had this happened to me?
We form the past perfect (simple) with:
Subject + had/hadn't + past participle
The form is the same for all persons.
| Positive (+) and Negative (-) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | auxiliary | past participle | ||
| + | I | had | passed | the test. |
| - | She | hadn't | seen | the film before. |
| Questions (?) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question word | auxiliary | subject | past participle | |
| Had | she | passed | the test? | |
| Where | had | they | seen | the film before? |
We can answer yes/no questions with short answers.
- ‘Had she passed the test?’ ‘Yes, she had.’
- ‘Had you seen the film before?’ ‘No, I hadn't.’
We use the past perfect to talk about an action or an event that happened before something else in the past.
- We arrived too late. The train had just left the station. (The train left the station first, and then we arrived.)
We also use the past perfect to talk about an action or event that happened before a particular time in the past.
- I had stayed in the same hotel twice before (= before the time that I am thinking about).
We can use because + past perfect to explain a situation or give a reason.
- I was happy because I'd finally passed my driving test!
- Emma didn't come to the cinema because she'd seen the film before.
We can use questions in the past perfect to ask for an explanation or the reason for something, especially when we are telling a story.
- The door was open. Had someone been there before me?
- I didn't understand it. Why had this happened to me?
Grammar contentsView all
Present perfect and past perfect
Quantifiers, possessives and demonstratives