The past perfect is used for actions or events that happened in the past before another action or event in the past.
Grammatical Rules
Form
Like the present perfect, the past perfect is formed using the auxiliary verb “to have” (in the past simple form) as well as the past participle.
| Subject |
Auxiliar |
Short Form |
Past Participle |
| I, you, he, she, it, we, they |
had |
I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, it’d, we’d, they’d |
studied, visited, worked… |
Note: Be careful, as the contraction “-’d” is also used with the modal verb “would” to form the conditional. As such, the short form “I’d” can mean either “I had” or “I would”. These two contractions are distinguished by the form of the principal verb that follows them. If we mean “I had”, the principal verb is in the past participle form, whereas with the conditional, “would” is followed by the verb in the infinitive. For more information, see the lesson on conditional sentences.
Note: Be careful, as the contraction “-’d” is also used with the modal verb “would” to form the conditional. As such, the short form “I’d” can mean either “I had” or “I would”. These two contractions are distinguished by the form of the principal verb that follows them. If we mean “I had”, the principal verb is in the past participle form, whereas with the conditional, “would” is followed by the verb in the infinitive. For more information, see the lesson on conditional sentences.
Structure
Subject + “had” + past participle…
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I had [I’d] visited the Louvre before, so I knew where the Mona Lisa was.
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They had [They’d] studied English before they went to London.
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Henry changed careers because he had [he’d] worked as an accountant for many years and was bored.
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Subject + “had” + past participle…
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I had not [hadn’t] visited the Louvre before so I didn’t know where the Mona Lisa was.
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They had not [hadn’t] studied English before they went to London.
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Henry changed careers even though he had not [hadn’t] worked as an accountant for long.
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3. Interrogative Sentences
“Had” + subject + past participle…?
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How did you know where the Mona Lisa was? Had you visited the Louvre before?
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Had they studied English before they went to London?
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Had Henry worked as an accountant for long before he changed careers?
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Uses
1. We use the past perfect to refer to an event that began in the past and before another action or event in the past. The action or event that that happened first is in the past perfect and the one that follows in the past simple.
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I’d read the book before I saw the movie.
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Donna had just left when you called.
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Had you ever flown before the trip to France?
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2. The past perfect is used for actions or events that happened before a specific time in the past.
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I had already woken up when the alarm clock rang at 7am.
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He hadn’t been to France before the trip in 2008.
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3. As with the present perfect, we also use the past perfect simple for situations that began in the past and continued to a specific point in time in the past, as we cannot use the continuous tenses with certain verbs.
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She had only owned one car before she bought her new BMW.
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I’d been depressed for a long time before I changed jobs.
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Note: See the list of verbs that we cannot use in the continuous tenses.
El pasado perfecto en inglés corresponde al pluscuamperfecto de español. En general, lo usamos para acciones que ocurrieron antes de otra acción en el pasado.
Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)
Form (Forma)
Igual que en el presente perfecto, se forma el pasado perfecto con el verbo auxiliar “to have” y el participio pasado. El verbo auxiliar estará en pasado.
| Sujeto |
Verbo Auxiliar |
Forma Corta |
Participio Pasado |
| I, you, he, she, it, we, they |
had |
I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, it’d, we’d, they’d |
studied, visited, worked… |
Nota: Ten cuidado porque la contracción “-’d” también se utiliza con el verbo modal “would” para formar el condicional. Como tal, la forma corta “I’d” puede tener dos significados diferentes. Podemos distinguir entre estos dos significados por la forma del verbo principal que les sigue. Si queremos decir “I’d” en el sentido de pasado perfecto, el verbo principal está en la forma de participio pasado, mientras que con el condicional, “I’d” va seguido por el verbo en infinitivo. Para más información, ver la lección sobre las frases condicionales.
Nota: Ten cuidado porque la contracción “-’d” también se utiliza con el verbo modal “would” para formar el condicional. Como tal, la forma corta “I’d” puede tener dos significados diferentes. Podemos distinguir entre estos dos significados por la forma del verbo principal que les sigue. Si queremos decir “I’d” en el sentido de pasado perfecto, el verbo principal está en la forma de participio pasado, mientras que con el condicional, “I’d” va seguido por el verbo en infinitivo. Para más información, ver la lección sobre las frases condicionales.
Structure (Estructura)
1. Affirmative Sentences (Frases afirmativas)
Sujeto + “had” + participio pasado…
Ejemplos:
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I had [I’d] visited the Louvre before, so I knew where the Mona Lisa was.(Había visitado el Museo del Louvre antes, así que sabía donde estaba la Mona Lisa.)
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They had [They’d] studied English before they went to London.(Habían estudiado inglés antes de irse a Londres.)
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Henry changed careers because he had [he’d] worked as an accountant for many years and was bored.(Henry cambió de profesión porque había trabajado como contable durante muchos años y estaba aburrido.)
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2. Negative Sentences (Frases negativas)
Sujeto + “had” + “not” + participio pasado…
Ejemplos:
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I had not [hadn’t] visited the Louvre before so I didn’t know where the Mona Lisa was.(No había visitado el Museo del Louvre antes, así que no sabía donde estaba la Mona Lisa.)
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They had not [hadn’t] studied English before they went to London.(No habían estudiado inglés antes de irse a Londres.)
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Henry changed careers even though he had not [hadn’t] worked as an accountant for long.(Henry cambió de profesión a pesar de que no había trabajado como contable durante mucho tiempo.)
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3. Interrogative Sentences (Frases interrogativas)
“Had” + sujeto + participio pasado…?
Ejemplos:
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How did you know where the Mona Lisa was? Had you visited the Louvre before?(¿Cómo sabías dónde estaba la Mona Lisa? ¿Habías visitado el Museo del Louvre antes?)
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Had they studied English before they went to London?(¿Habían estudiado inglés antes de irse a Londres?)
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Had Henry worked as an accountant for long before he changed careers?(¿Henry había trabajado como contable durante mucho tiempo antes de cambiar de profesión?)
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Uses (Usos)
1. Usamos el pasado perfecto para referirnos a una acción o evento que comenzó en el pasado y que es anterior a otra acción también en el pasado. La acción que ocurrió primero es en pasado perfecto y la que sigue en pasado simple.
Ejemplos:
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I’d read the book before I saw the movie.(Había leído el libro antes de ver la película.)
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Donna had just left when you called.(Donna había salido justo cuando llamaste.)
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Had you ever flown before the trip to France?(¿Alguna vez habías volado antes del viaje a Francia?)
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2. Se usa para acciones que ocurrieron antes de un tiempo específico en el pasado.
Ejemplos:
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I had already woken up when the alarm clock rang at 7am.(Ya me había despertado cuando sonó el despertador a las 7.)
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He hadn’t been to France before the trip in 2008.(No había estado en Francia antes del viaje del 2008.)
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3. También, como en el presente perfecto, con algunos verbos usamos el pasado perfecto para situaciones que empezaron en el pasado y que siguieron hasta un punto específico en el pasado.
Ejemplos:
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She had only owned one car before she bought her new BMW.(Solo había tenido un coche antes de que comprara su nuevo BMW.)
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I’d been depressed for a long time before I changed jobs.(Había estado deprimido durante mucho tiempo antes de que cambiara de trabajo.)
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Nota: Ver una lista de los verbos que no usamos, en la lección sobre los tiempos continuos de los verbos.
