Past Perfect tense

                              Past Perfect tense

Use:

The past perfect is used in the same way as the present perfect, but it refers to a time in the past, not the present.

We use the past perfect tense:

•  for something that started in the past and continued up to a given time in the past:

1.    When George died he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.
2.    She didn’t want to move. She had lived in Liverpool all her life.

• We normally use the past perfect continuous for this:

1.   She didn’t want to move. She had been living in Liverpool all her life.
2.   Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

• for something we had done several times up to a point in the past and continued to do after that point:

1.   He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a      teenager.
2.   He had written three books and he was working on another one.
3.   I had been watching the programme every week, but I missed the last episode.

• We often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:

1.   They had been staying with us since the previous week.
2.   I was sorry when the factory closed. I had worked there since I left school.
3.   I had been watching that programme every week since it started, but I missed    the last episode.

•             when we are reporting our experience and including up to the (then) present:

1.   My eighteenth birthday was the worst day I had ever had.
2.   I was pleased to meet George. I hadn’t met him before, even though I had met    his wife several times.

•     for something that happened in the past but is important at the time of reporting:

1.   I couldn’t get into the house. I had lost my keys.
2.   Teresa wasn’t at home. She had gone shopping.

• We use the past perfect to talk about the past in conditions, hypotheses and wishes:

1.  I would have helped him if he had asked.
2.  It was very dangerous. What if you had got lost?
3.  I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month.

                           Structure of sentence

                                 Positive sentence:

        
        • Subject + auxiliary verb + main verb (past participle) + object
        • Subject + had + 3rd form of verb or past participle + object

Examples.

1.   He had taken the exam last year.
2.    A thief had stolen my watch.

                                Negative sentence:

      
       • Subject + auxiliary verb + NOT + main verb (past participle) + object
        • Subject + had + not + 3rd form of verb or past participle + object
  
 “Not” is written after auxiliary verb in negative sentence.

Examples.

1.    He had not taken the exam last year.
2.     A thief had not stolen my watch.

                             Interrogative sentence:

    
       • Auxiliary verb + subject + main verb (past participle) + object
       • Had + subject + 3rd form of verb or past participle + object

     Interrogative sentence starts with auxiliary verb “had”

Examples.

1.     Had he taken the exam last year?     
2.      Had a thief stolen my watch?