Past perfect

Past perfect

By Ruth Alva

​We form the past perfect with:

​Affirmative

Negative

I/You/We/It​

He/She/They​

I/You/We/It​

He/She/They​

had​

+​

started.

Pronoun + had + past participle.

I/You/We/It​

He/She/They​

'd​

+​

+​

started.

Pronoun + hadn't + past participle.

hadn't​

+​

started.

+​

+​

Look at this:

• ​When we talk about an event or situation in past time we use the past simple but if we talked about an event before that time we use the past perfect.

• ​A year ago:

  Jenny flew to Rome. She thinks, "I have never been on a plane before that"​.

  ​

• ​Now:

  Jenny flew to Rome last year.

  I had never been on a plane before that​.

  ​

• ​Last saturday at the cinema:

  We don't need to queue because I've already bought the tickets.

• Now, talking about the last saturday:

  We didn't need to queue because

  I had already bought the tickets.

​Note that we can use never and already before the past participle.

Multiple Choice

Last summer Mary won a gold medal for the third time.

• She had already won two gold medals before that.

• She had never won gold medals before that.

Multiple Choice

Lat year Ken visited Scotland for the first time.

• He had never visited Scotland before that.

• He had already visited Scotland before that.