Past Perfect tense Examples – All Four Forms

The best way to learn tenses in English Grammar is to know the usage and structure of the tense and then practice different forms of example sentences. In this article we have presented various forms of Past Perfect Tense Examples which help you to understand and remember the tense.

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense describes an action completed at a certain time in the past. (Both singular and plural subjects will be accompanied by ‘had’ in the past perfect tense.)

Structure: Subject + Had + Verb 3 (V3) + Object

Example:

• He had written a book when he was 10 years old.

Rule: When two past actions are mentioned in a single sentence, in order to distinguish both of them, the earlier action is described in the past perfect tense and the other action, in the simple past tense.

• The train had already left by the time he reached the station.
• The movie had already started by the time we entered the theatre.
• Martin had called me before he came to my place.
• I had deposited the money in the bank when Raj met me to borrow some.

Rule: If there is any unfulfilled wish in the past, it is expressed in the past perfect tense. For example,

• She had hoped that I would marry her.
• He had waited for her to come, but she didn’t.

Past Perfect Tense Examples

Like every tense, the past perfect tense can also be expressed in has four forms.

Positive : Subject + had + Verb 3 (V3) + Object

Positive Interrogative : Had +Subject + Verb 3 (V3) + Object?

Negative : Subject + had not + Verb 3 (V3) + Object

Negative Interrogative : Had not +Subject + Verb 3 (V3) + Object? (or) Had + Subject + not + V3 + Object

For example, if we take the sentence “He had left for Canada.” The sentence can be written in four forms as follows:

• Positive : He had left for Canada.
• Positive Interrogative : Had he left for Canada?
• Negative : He had not left for Canada.
• Negative Interrogative : Hadn’t he left for Canada? (Or) had he not left for Canada?

Exercise: Now, let us take some more examples and write all the four forms of those sentences.

1. I had written him a letter.
2. The train had left the station before I reached.
3. The professor had exited the building before she entered.

For remaining Tenses, Click here

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