{"id":1637,"date":"2021-01-25T21:53:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T21:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/?page_id=1637"},"modified":"2021-01-26T16:08:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T16:08:29","slug":"the-past-perfect-tense","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"The Past Perfect Tense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First Published: 25th of January, 2021 by Patrick Carpen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last updated: January 26, 2021 at 16:08 pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To recap, there are three “past time verbs” used to describe events of the past:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Simple Past<\/li>
  2. Past Continuous<\/li>
  3. Past Perfect Tense<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Past Perfect Tense<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I walked <\/strong>towards the house. (Simple Past)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The atmosphere was <\/strong>dark. (Simple Past)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    …the occasional thunderclaps…served <\/strong>to accentuate…(Simple Past)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But I was <\/strong>not afraid. (Simple Past)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I had learned <\/strong>fifteen years ago…(Past Perfect Tense)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    …I had <\/strong>in my possession a wooden cross… (Simple Past)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    …which I had carved<\/strong> ten years ago… (Past Perfect Tense)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The past perfect tense is formed with the helping verb “had” and the past particle of a verb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the above example, we have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Present tense: Learn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Past Tense: Learned<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Past Participle: Learned<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Past Perfect Tense: had learned<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Present tense: carve<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Past Tense: carved<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Past Perfect Tense: had carved<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now go ahead and start making examples of the past perfect tense!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    First Published: 25th of January, 2021 by Patrick Carpen. To recap, there are three “past time verbs” used to describe events of the past: Simple Past Past Continuous Past Perfect Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1578,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,25,16,63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1637","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-advanced-english","category-english-grammar","category-the-verb","category-verb-tenses"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Past Perfect Tense - English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Past Perfect Tense - English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First Published: 25th of January, 2021 by Patrick Carpen. To recap, there are three “past time verbs” used to describe events of the past: Simple Past Past Continuous Past Perfect Continue Reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-26T16:08:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/124\/2021\/01\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280-1024x668.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Past Perfect Tense - English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/124\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280-1024x668.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-25T21:53:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-26T16:08:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/124\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C835&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/124\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C835&ssl=1\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":835},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/the-past-perfect-tense\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Parts Of Speech\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Basics\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"The Verb\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Past Time Verbs\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/parts-speech\\\/the-basics\\\/verb\\\/past-time-verbs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"The Past Perfect Tense\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"English\",\"description\":\"By Patrick Carpen: The Greatest Writer On Earth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Past Perfect Tense - English","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Past Perfect Tense - English","og_description":"First Published: 25th of January, 2021 by Patrick Carpen. To recap, there are three “past time verbs” used to describe events of the past: Simple Past Past Continuous Past Perfect Continue Reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/","og_site_name":"English","article_modified_time":"2021-01-26T16:08:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/124\/2021\/01\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280-1024x668.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/","name":"The Past Perfect Tense - English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/124\/2021\/01\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280-1024x668.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-25T21:53:49+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-26T16:08:29+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/124\/2021\/01\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C835&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/124\/2021\/01\/alarm-clock-2116007_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C835&ssl=1","width":1280,"height":835},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/the-past-perfect-tense\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Parts Of Speech","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Basics","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The Verb","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Past Time Verbs","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/parts-speech\/the-basics\/verb\/past-time-verbs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"The Past Perfect Tense"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/","name":"English","description":"By Patrick Carpen: The Greatest Writer On Earth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PekmxV-qp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1637"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1643,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1637\/revisions\/1643"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}