|
The past perfect, also called the pluperfect, is a compound verb form which requires two verbs: the simple past of the auxiliary verb HAVE (had) and a past participle. Before you continue, review these lessons: Verb HAVE | Past participle
subject | aux. verb |
past part. |
|
I | had | eaten | already. |
They | had | visited | the Louvre in April. |
It | had | been | a difficult day. |
The past perfect is used to talk about a past event that occurred before a different past event.
Tom and I had already eaten before we saw you yesterday.
Note that there are three actions on the timeline:
- Tom and I ate yesterday.
- Tom and I saw you yesterday.
- Today, I am talking to you about yesterday.
Remember, if I am speaking about a single event in the past, the past perfect is not required. For example:
Tom and I saw you yesterday.
As you can see, there are only two events on the timeline:
- Tom and I saw you yesterday.
- Today, I am talking to you about yesterday.
Because there is only a single time period in the past that I am referring to, I use the simple past.
Here is another example using the past perfect.
The man was tired when he arrived home. It had been a difficult day.
There are three successive events on the timeline.
- The man had a difficult day.
- The man arrived home.
- Now, I am telling you about the man.
By looking at the timeline, we can see the difficult day happened before the man arrived home. There is a past event (arrived home) and another past event that preceded that (It had been a difficult day). Now in the present, I am telling you about that man in the past.
Related lessons: