§ 2. The past perfect

1. F o r m a t i o n

The Past Perfect is formed with the auxiliary to have in the Past Indefinite + the Past Participle. It is therefore the same for all persons: I had finished my work by the time my friends came.

The negative is formed by adding not to the auxiliary to have in the Past Indefinite+ the Past Participle.

The interrogative is formed by inverting the auxiliary to have in the Past Indefinite and the subject+ the Past Participle.

Affirmative		Negative
I had finished		I had not finished
(= I'd finished)		(= I hadn't finished)	school
You had finished	school when	You had not finished	when
He/she/it had finished	they came.	He/she/it had not finished	they
We had finished		We had not finished	came.
They had finished		They had not finished

Interrogative		Negative Interrogative
Had I finished		Had I not finished
Had you finished	school when	(= Hadn't I finished)	school
Had he/she/it finished	they came?	Had you not finished	when
Had we finished		Had he/she/it not finished	they
Had they finished		Had we not finished	came?
		Had they not finished

2. U s a g e

The Past Perfect is used to indicate an action completed before a definite moment of the past time or before another completed past action.

The Past Perfect is used to denote:

1. an action which began before a certain moment in the past and continued up to that moment or stopped just before it. This certain moment in the past is usually indicated with the preposition by: When I met him, he had been in the army for 2 years. When I arrived, Ann had just left. He had done the work by June.

2. an action expressed in clauses after the prepositionsafter, as soon as: After he had left Rome, he went to Paris. As soon as he had passed the exam he went to see his friends.

3. an action in reported speech : She said she had had a lovely time.

The following words, time expressions and conjunctions can be used with the Past Perfect :

ever, never, before, already, yet, always, just, etc.: I wasn't hungry. I had just had lunch. He had phoned us before he left.

for (used with the period of time), since (used with the beginning of the period of time): The house was dirty. They hadn't cleaned it for weeks since May.

hardly … when, scarcely .... when, no sooner ..... than: They had scarcely come home when it began to rain. Hardly had she laid the table when the phone rang. No sooner had they entered the hall than the lecture began.

E X E R C I S E S

2.1. Explain the use of the Past Perfect forms. Translate into Russian.

1. I understood he had just fallen asleep.

2. I saw he hadn't written a single sentence yet.

3. She had known him long before he left for India.

4. The students had passed their last exam by the 1^st of July and left for the Crimea.

5. No sooner had the clock struck midnight than there was a loud knock on the door.

6. Hardly had he entered the room when he heard some noise.

7. Maggy had scarcely introduced her new boy-friend to me when I recognized him.

8. He went home only after he had spoken to the manager.

9. She wondered where Mum had put her new bag.

10. Mary told me that she hadn't gone to her grandmother since she finished school.