My E-Bookshelf

# Past Perfect Tense

# Read the story

An image

The Story of Mr Leung

It was Friday - Mr Leung was excited. He had had a tough time preparing for his lesson observation. Therefore, he decided to celebrate with a feast.

Things always go wrong when you are happy - Mr Leung spent a whole night vomiting. He clearly had eaten too much sushi.

He has no choice but to take a sick leave today.

# Have a guess

  • It was Friday
  • Mr Leung was excited
Q1. Which of the above happened earlier?

Both events happened more or less at the same time.

  • He had had a tough time preparing for his lesson observation
  • he decided to celebrate with a feast
Q2. Which of the above happened earlier?

He had had a tough time preparing for his lesson observation.

  • Mr Leung spent a whole night vomiting
  • He clearly had eaten too much sushi.
Q3. Which of the above happened earlier?

He clearly had eaten too much sushi.

# Use past perfect tense to show the sequence of past events

We use the past perfect tense to talk about a past event that happened earlier than another past event.

Compare:

  1. When Oliver arrived at the restaurant, Lily had already left.
  2. When Oliver arrived at the restaurant, Lily left.

The past perfect tense had already left has been used in Sentence 1 above to indicate that Lily's exit happened earlier than Oliver's arrival.

As for Sentence 2, simple past tense left has been used which implies that Oliver's arrival and Lily's exit happend almost at the same time. Lily is probably afraid of Oliver, isn't she? 😆

A past event happened earlier A past event
Past Perfect Tense Simple Past Tense

# Form of past perfect tense

The past perfect tense consists of an auxiliary verb had and a past participle. Check out the examples below,

I had paid.
We had won.
He had bought.

Check out more examples below,

I had been punished.
Ken had completed his homework.
Hongkongers had been highly cautious about COVID-19.

WARNING

Pay special attention to the form of past perfect tense when passive voice is used.

# Quick Check

Complete the sentences below by using past perfect tense:

She __ (take) the pills already.

She had taken the pills already.

I __ (attack) by an old man. (hint: passive voice)

I had been attacked by an old man.

It __ (be) extremely painful.

It had been extremely painful.

# What if the sequence of past events is clear?

If we want to make the order of past events clear, we can also use the conjunctions like before, after and by the time. In this case, we normally use the simple past tense for both past events, but it is perfectly fine to use the past perfect tense.

Sentence 1 can be re-written as Sentence 2

  1. When Oliver arrived at the restaurant, Lily had already left.
  2. Oliver arrived at the restaurant after Lily left.

Alternative: Oliver arrived at the restaurant after Lily had left.

Check out another pair of examples below:

  1. I had taken the pills when I went to bed.
  2. Before I went to bed, I took the pills.

Alternative: Before I went to bed, I had taken the pills.

# A series of past events

When we come across a series of past events that happened one after the other, we use the simple past tense for all the events.

An example of a series of past events

She sat on the couch, switched on the television and watched Netflix.

# There must be more than one past events

We use the past perfect tense to talk about an past event that happened earlier than another past event. Therefore, we can deduce that when the past perfect tense is used, there must be more than one past events. Or else, there is no need to use the past perfect tense. It is perfectly fine if you don't understand. Let's check out the example below.

It is wrong to say...

I had read a book yesterday.

Explanation: The use of past perfect tense had read tells us that it happened earlier than another past event. Now, where is that past event? It is missing!

It is correct to say...

  • I read a book yesterday. OR
  • I had read a book so my eyes became dry.

Explanation: The use of past perfect tense had read tells us that it happened earlier than another past event. Now, we have that necessary past event eyes became dry to compare with.

# Quick Check

Complete the sentences below by using either simple past tense or past perfect tense:

He __ (not/go) to school last Monday.

He did not go to school last Monday.

Dorothy __ (be) angry yesterday with her husband because he __ (forget) their wedding anniversary.

Dorothy was angry yesterday with her husband because he had forgotten their wedding anniversary.

The power gird __ (be) down on March 30 because a chopper belonging to the People's Liberation Army __ (crash) into a transmission tower.

The power gird was down on March 30 because a chopper belonging to the People's Liberation Army had crashed into a transmission tower.

# Supplementary Exercise

Conditionals (Type 0, 1, 2) →