Past Perfect Tense: Definition, Examples & How to use it

Past Perfect Tense: Definition and how to use it

What’s the difference between past perfect and simple past? When should I use which? And is ‘had had’ even proper grammar?

The past perfect tense, also known as pluperfect, often leaves us boggled and scratching our heads whenever we try to use it. Like bumping into a distant cousin on the street we only see once a year at Christmas, we avoid them at all costs. Only saying hi if we really need to. The same could be said about our use of past perfect tense.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at what exactly is past perfect tense, and how can you use it correctly.

What’s The Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is a verse tense used to express actions that’re completed before a specific point in the past. It’s often used to establish the order of events when discussing the past and to emphasize that one action happened before another past action.

Simple Past vs Past Perfect

Before diving into the ways to use past perfect, let’s get this common question out of the way.

The simple past tense is used to describe actions or events that occurred and were completed in the past, without any ongoing relevance to the present. On the other hand, the past perfect tense is used to show that an action or event in the past happened before another action or event also in the past, highlighting the sequence of events and emphasizing the order in which they happened.

How to form the Past Perfect Tense?

The past perfect tense is formed by using the past tense of the auxiliary verb ‘have’ (had) followed by the past participle of the main verb.

Had + [past participle]

Common regular verbs in the past perfect tense

Had eaten
Had worked
Had jumped
Had listened
Had talked

Common irregular verbs in the past perfect tense

Had been
Had done
Had made
Had taken
Had come

When should you use the Past Perfect Tense?

Should you add cereal first and milk after, or the other way round?

Fortunately, knowing when you should use past perfect and simple past tense is more or less a settled debate. All you’ve to do is ask yourself this simple question:

‘Am I talking about some point in the past and wish to reference an event that took place before that?’

If your answer is yes, use past perfect tense.

Eg. Jason’s parents were relieved that he used non-permanent ink. (Simple past)
Eg. Jason’s parents were relieved that he had used non-permanent ink. (Past perfect)

While the difference is small, notice the first sentence doesn’t connect Jason’s act of using a non-permanent marker to any particular moment in time. For some readers, it can be interpreted as ‘Jason’s parents were relieved that he was in the habit of using non-permanent ink.’ But in the second sentence, the past perfect helps to show that we’re referring to a specific instance of using non-permanent ink.

Another situation where you should use past perfect is when you’re expressing a condition and a result.

Eg. If she had studied harder, she would have passed the test.

In this example, the past perfect is used to explain the condition (if-clause).

* Bonus Tip
Writing an entire paragraph with past perfect is often unnecessary. Once you’ve established the earlier time with past perfect tense, you can continue describing that earlier time in the simple past and your readers will understand when the action is taking place.

Eg. When he was leaving the house, he remembered that just last week he had noticed (past perfect) the back window was open, and he had thought (past perfect) to himself that he needed to close it. He even went (simple past) to the store and bought (simple past) a lock for it.

When should you NOT use the Past Perfect Tense?

There are two instances where it's inappropriate to use the past perfect tense. You should not use the past perfect tense:

when you’re talking about a single past action
when you’re not trying to establish a sequence of events.

Imagine you're describing your weekend activities to a friend. It would be incorrect to use the Past Perfect Tense because you're not talking about an action that happened before another action in the past.

Eg. Yesterday, I had watched a movie at the theater. (Incorrect)

In this instance, 'had watched' is not appropriate because you're simply describing a single past action without any need to establish a sequence of events. Instead, you should use the Simple Past Tense:

Eg. Yesterday, I watched a movie at the theater. (Correct)

Using the Simple Past Tense here accurately conveys the action you performed without unnecessary complexity. The Past Perfect Tense is reserved for situations where you need to show the order of past events or to establish a clear timeline.

How to form the Past Perfect Negative?

Similar to forming simple past negative, forming the past perfect negative is easy. All you’ve to do is follow the formula:

Had + not + [past participle]

Eg. She had not visited that museum before.

In this example, the negative past perfect ‘had not visited’ indicates that the action of visiting the museum did not occur before a certain point in the past. The past perfect is used to show that the non-visiting action was completed before another past event or time.

How to use the Past Perfect Tense in a question?

When it comes to using past perfect tense in a question, follow the formula below.

Had + [subject] + [past participle]

Eg. Had they already left when you arrived?

In this example, the past perfect ‘had left’ is used to ask whether the action of leaving occurred before the action of arriving. The past perfect tense helps establish the order of events and their relationship to each other.

Eg. Had you ever visited this city prior to last summer?

In this question, the past perfect ‘had visited’ is employed to inquire whether the action of visiting the city happened before the specified time ‘last summer.’ The past perfect tense indicates a completed action before a specific past point.