Past perfect tense
Definition:
- When two past action takes place, we should use "Past Perfect" in early action (which took place first). Example: The children had left the class before I entered.
- To describes an action that takes places before a particular time in the past. Example: By 4 a.m all the students had left the college.
- It expresses the unfulfilled wishes in the past. Example: If the school had announced a holiday, we would have gone for a trip
- To describe an action in the past that is the cause of another action. Example: The fan was not working because the power had gone.
- To express the action in the past by using the time of adverbials such as before, since, already etc., Example: Since 2020 they had not met each other.
Had + Past participle
1. Statement (Verb structure)
we have to use "had + past participle" (third form of the verb) in-between the subject and object.
Examples:
- When I reached the station, the train had left
- I had already met the principal.
Here in the above sentence, we can see the two past action ( reached and had left, had and met). Before he enters the station the train was not there. So we have to use "had" before the verb (left). Like this, in the next example "already" itself gives the meaning that she met the principal earlier. So here we use had.
2. Negative sentence:
We have to use not after had.
Examples:
- When I reached the station, the train had not left
- Mother had not left the home when the courier boy arrived.
In the above examples, we can see, after had we use not.
3. Interrogative sentence (verb structure)
We have to place had before the subject. And after subject, we have to place the past participle (third form of the verb)
Examples:
- Had he arrived before you reached there?
- Had she found the book by that time?
From the above examples we can see before the subject we have to place had, then after the subject we have to place the verb (arrived and found). In interrogative sentence for past perfect tense, had should be the starting word of the sentences.
Examples :
- When I reached the class, the students had left
- He had met him before the party
- I had written the letter before he apologized.
- When the computer crashed, I had saved the document.
- She was very tired because he had not slept well
- The baby had cried before his father came
- The vendor had left when I went outside
- He had told the truth before I arrived
- The photographer had taken the photo before I enter the party hall
- The party had finished before the cake arrived
- We had reached the place before he left
- Had she left before you arrived?
- Had he gone mad before he knows the truth?
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