Past Perfect Tense Definition, Affirmative, Negative and Interrogative Sentences

Past Perfect Tense Definition, Affirmative, Negative and Interrogative Sentences

Past Perfect Tense

The Past Perfect Tense, which is used to express what happened first when describing two events or situations in the past, is a Tense that you will come across quite often. The event that is meant to be expressed must have happened in the past tense, but there must be two different events and these two events should be conveyed sequentially to the opposite party in a sentence.

How to Make Past Perfect Tense?

When making sentences with the Past Perfect Tense, you must follow the subject-verb-object sentence ordering rule of English. The auxiliary verbs have and has, which should be used in Simple Perfect Tense, become past tense and had when used with Past Perfect Tense. The third form of the elephant used in the Simple Perfect Tense should also be used in the Past Perfect Tense.

In the Past Perfect Tense, which is often confused with the Present Perfect Tense, the auxiliary verb is only used as “had”. In the Present Perfect Tense, the auxiliary verb can be “have” or “has” depending on the subject. They differ in the way the auxiliary verb is used.

Past Perfect Tense Grammar Rules

Affirmative Sentences: While making a positive sentence with the Past Perfect Tense, the auxiliary verb “had” is used regardless of the subject, the verb to be used after this auxiliary verb must be in the third form.

• The bus had gone by the time Mia got to the bus stop.
• Valery and Madison had wanted to watch Marvel movies at their home but Valery had to go to work before their plan.
• Seth had learned Russian before he moved to Moscow but his knowledge was not enough.
• The important cargo Jeremy wanted had arrived when he went home in order to get things he need.

Negative Sentences: The only difference from affirmative sentences is to add the suffix “note” to the auxiliary verb. In negative sentences, the subject is unimportant and the third form of the verb should be used.

• Stewart had not (hadn’t) met with Jessia before the party was started.
• I had not (hadn’t) slept all night because I got some bad news before I slept.
• Chloe had not (hadn’t) visited Paris until she moved there because of her job.
• Elizabeth did not pass her exams because she had not studied enough to pass her exams.

Interrogative Sentences: In the interrogative sentences of the Past Perfect Tense, the auxiliary verb “had” should come first, then the subject should be brought, and then the third form of the verb should be used. When a question word is used, the sentence should be placed after the question word in the same order.

• When had Rodney’s first poem published? Was he younger or older than ten years old?
• Had Lilly gone to a Japanese course before she moved to Japan?
• Had Leonard and Rex finished all food before their trip was not finished?
• What type of books had you wanted before you went to the University of Harvard?