Transcript Verb Tenses: The Past Perfect

Verb Tenses:
The Past Perfect
Created by Kathryn Reilly
Verb Tense Background
• Verbs change their form to allow writers to
accurately describe events.
• Verbs alert the reader if the action is in the
past, present or future.
• Within these three main time frames, actions
can be further broken down.
The Past Perfect
• The past perfect describes an event in the past.
• The past perfect describes an event that occurred
before another event in the past.
– I cheered after she had won the competition.
• She had won the competition before I cheered.
• The past perfect often relays a sequence of
events, especially in narrative texts.
Creating the Past Perfect
• To create the past perfect tense:
Subject + auxiliary verb had + verb in past tense +
remaining sentence
The boy wondered if dinosaurs+ had + eaten + trees.
She asked if we + had + heard + the commotion.
• Note: Typically, the event occurring second appears
first in the sentence.
Past Perfect Examples
• The past perfect tense describes an event that
occurred before another event.
– Savannah asked if Ben had completed his homework.
• Ben had completed his homework before Savannah asked.
– He replied that he had finished it two hours ago.
• He had finished the homework before he replied.
Be Aware…
• …when phrasing a question in the past perfect
tense, the auxiliary verb had should begin the
question followed by the subject.
– Had you heard that he lost the race?
– Had David arrived after the movie started?