English grammar - Past perfect

Resource centre - English grammar - Past perfect

Form

Affirmative: had + verb 3 (past participle)
Negative: hadn't + verb 3 (past participle)

Meaning

1. We use past perfect to talk about finished actions that happened before a certain time in the past.
   • I had finished lunch when they arrived.
   • You had left by the time they got here.
   • He didn't want to come with us because he had already seen the film.

Pronunciation

(See the phonemic chart for IPA symbols used below)

1. If had is not completely contracted, it is usually reduced to its weak form in affirmative sentences and questions, sometimes with elision and intrusion.
   • We had already arrived:
     /wiː həd/ or
     /wiːjəd/ (the /h/ sound is elided and the /j/ sound intrudes)
   • You had tried many times:
     /juː həd/ or
     /uːwəd/ (the /h/ sound is elided and the /w/ sound intrudes)
   • Had they eaten? /həd/

Teaching ideas for past perfect

How do you teach past perfect? Add your idea »

Carol

  I usually draw a timeline (a long one) on the board or on a big piece of paper. Then I invite students to write about the events that day, i.e.:

Student A:
7am: I had breakfast
8am: I went to school
12pm: I went back home
13pm: I finished my homework
15pm: I arrived for my English class

Student B:
8am: I had breakfast
9am: I went to work
15pm: I left work
15:15pm: I arrived (late) for my class

Then I model the first sentence:
When student B had breakfast, student A had already had breakfast (or had already gone to school).

Then students have to come up with other sentences using the information on the board. They can do it in pairs, comparing their days (or even their lives! i.e.: When I got married, you had already had 2 children! or in a big group.

Ali

  Well for me the best way to teach the past perfect is to focus on two past actions and formulate them in a sentence using the suitable adverbial of time. Then, you can ask your students how many actions the sentence has? Ask them which action happened first and which happened second. Then ask them to figure out a rule.

Yadegari

  I divide the class in two groups and give each group some sentences. The sentences for group 1 are the past simple and for group 2 are past perfect. For example: group 1 have "I was nervous before the flight..." or "she was hungry..." or "he was tired all day" and so on and group 2 have sentences like "I hadn't flown before" or "she hadn't eaten for hours" or "he hadn't slept well last night". Finally, I ask one from group 1 to read their sentence and a person in group 2 must say a related sentence and the game goes on.

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