ro4 the past Perfect tense

The past Perfect tense

Typicalforms of this tense are as shown in:
I had misheard.

the past perfect tense

-

ros

an action or state that began before another action in the past and continued up to the time ofthe second action and perhaps even beyond that time.
Ashraf had already known my brotherfor two Veors when I met

Shehad misheard. I hadfinished. She had found them.

She'd gone.

him.

lt

is

often used in the main clause of a complex sentence, to set the

scene for a past event. Wehad alwayswantedtovisitConadafor a longtime, so last yearwe decidedto go.

They'dfoundher'

Hadl misheard?
Had it gone?
Had Mary arrived before Peter told you
?

- No, she hadn't'

lt

is

often used with

time expression such as always or for several

days.

not misheard' Hehod misheard.

I had I had

We had

always wanted to visit Canada, so last year we decided

notfinished.

to go.

It had notworked. t hadn't realized how serious the problem was' They hadn't seen her. The contracted forms are: had

='d

had not =

hadn't

past than The past perfect tense goes one step fu rther back i nto the

the present perfect.

Had you ever seen her before then?

No, I hadn't'

The past perfect tense is used to tall< about:

-anact'ionthattookp|aceinthepastbeforesomethinge|setookp|ace.
She hod

iust made some coffee when I arrived'