PAST PERFECT

and Simple Past Tense

Past Perfect: HAD + P.P.
The past perfect is formed with the past auxiliary verb had and the past participle of
the main verb. It is used when the first past action finishes before the second
past action.
Subject HAVE Past Participle Contraction

arrived. I'd arrived.

I had/ hadn’t
eaten. I'd eaten.
arrived. You'd arrived.
You had/ hadn’t
eaten. You'd eaten.
arrived. He'd arrived.
He had/ hadn’t
eaten. He'd eaten.
arrived. She'd arrived.
She had/ hadn’t
eaten. She'd eaten.
arrived. It'd arrived.
It had/ hadn’t
eaten. It'd eaten.
arrived. We'd arrived.
We had/ hadn’t
eaten. We'd eaten.
arrived. They'd arrived.
They had/ hadn’t
eaten. They'd eaten.
Past Perfect Negative, Question, and
Short Answer

The auxiliary verb HAD is also used for negative sentences, questions and
short answers.
• I hadn’t seen you until you called me.
• Had you eaten when I arrived? No, I hadn’t.
• What had you done by the time they showed up? I had just cleaned the
house.
• Had she been to another country before her fifteenth birthday?
Yes, she had.
 Form
• The past simple is formed by adding –ed
to the infinitive of regular verbs
started, finished
• Regular verbs ending in –e just add –d

Simple Past arrived, decided

• There are many irregular verbs
be=was/were
do=did
have=had
The form of the past simple does not change:

I/ We/ You/ They worked late.

He/ She/ It

Except BE:

I/ He/ She/ It was at home.

We/ You/ They were here.

Past Simple Negative, Question, and
Short Answer

The auxiliary verb DID (the past tense of DO) is used for negative sentences, questions and
short answers.
• I didn’t see you at the meeting yesterday.
• Did you enjoy the meal? No, I didn’t.
• What did you have to do? I had to study.
• Did you go to the conference?
Yes, I did.
• Did Glenn go?
No, he didn’t.
Using the Past Perfect
• The past perfect is used to show you which of two events happened first.
Imagine that two things happened in the past:
Past Event I went to see the movie.
Past Event We discussed the movie in class.

• Here, we don't know which order the events happened in. There are many ways
to make this sequence clear, and the past perfect is one of them. This is how we
do it:
I went to see the movie. We had discussed the movie in class.
Use
We use Simple Past if we give past events in the order in which they occured. However, when we look
back from a certain time in the past to tell what had happened before, we use Past Perfect.

Normal order in the past or looking back to an event before a certain time in the past?
Do you just want to tell what happened some time in the past or do you want to tell what had happened
before/up to a certain time in the past?

Simple Past Past Perfect Simple

some time in the past before/up to a certain time in the past

Example: Jane got up at seven. She opened Example: Before her sixth birthday, Jane had
her birthday presents and then the whole never been to the zoo.
family went to the zoo.

Signal Words Simple Past Past Perfect Simple

•first •already
•then •up to then
•before that day
•after*
"After" is only used as a signal word for Past Perfect if it is followed by a
subject + verb, meaning that one action had been completed before
another action began (the new action is in Simple Past).

Example:

After the family had had breakfast, they went to the zoo.

However, if "after" is followed by object + subject + verb, the verb belongs

to the new action and is therefore in Simple Past.

Example:
After her visit to the zoo, Jane was exhausted.
Depending on the situation, "when" can be used with Simple Past or Past
Perfect. Compare the following examples:

Example:

• When Jane saw the elephants, she was amazed. (at the same time)
• When Jane had seen the elephants, she wanted to see the giraffes.
(second action happened after the first action had been completed)
• When Jane went to see the elephants, she had already seen the lions.
(second action had been completed when the first action took place)
"Before" as well can either be used with Simple Past or Past Perfect. If the
action after "before" is a new action, use Simple Past. If the action after
"before" started (and was not completed) before a certain time in the past,
use Past Perfect.

Example:

• Jane had read a lot about elephants before she went to the zoo.

• Jane went to the zoo before she had finished reading her new book
about elephants.