The Past Perfect Tense

First Published: 25th of January, 2021 by Patrick Carpen.

To recap, there are three “past time verbs” used to describe events of the past:

1. Simple Past
2. Past Continuous
3. Past Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense of a verb also describes actions which happened in the past but which are still valid up to the time of speaking or writing. Example: “I have opened the door.” The door is still open, but the action was done at an unspecified time in the past. Ironically then, here we have a present time verb which refers to actions of the past. Yes, the English Language, like many other things in life, is complicated. For now, we will not classify the present perfect tense as a past time verb even though it sometimes describes an action of the past. Let’s move on.

The Past Perfect Tense

When telling a story about the past, you may, at times, need to reference an event that happened prior to the time in which the story is set. Here is an example.

I walked towards the house. The atmosphere was dark and dreary, and the occasional thunderclaps accompanied by its formidable lightning bolts only served to accentuate the sinister outlook of the environment. But I was not afraid. I “had learned” 15 years ago that ghosts are afraid of the cross, so I had in my possession the small wooden cross which I “had carved” ten years ago.

The story above is set at some time in the past. Let’s assume that the story is set in the year 1990 in the month of February. You will notice that all verbs which refer to the time in which the story is set are in the simple past tense form. That is because the story is set in the past.

I walked towards the house. (Simple Past)

The atmosphere was dark. (Simple Past)

…the occasional thunderclaps…served to accentuate…(Simple Past)

But I was not afraid. (Simple Past)

I had learned fifteen years ago…(Past Perfect Tense)

…I had in my possession a wooden cross… (Simple Past)

…which I had carved ten years ago… (Past Perfect Tense)

As you can see from the examples above, the past perfect tense describes an action that was perfected prior to another event in the past or prior to the time in which the story is set.

The past perfect tense is formed with the helping verb “had” and the past particle of a verb.

In the above example, we have:

Present tense: Learn

Past Tense: Learned

Past Participle: Learned

Past Perfect Tense: had learned

Present tense: carve

Past Tense: carved

Past Perfect Tense: had carved

Now go ahead and start making examples of the past perfect tense!