Before I turned thirty…
I had swam with sharks.
I had had my heart broken more times than I thought possible.
I had married the love of my life.
My wife and I had raised two sons.
As a family, we had made many memories.
Doesn’t the above list sound perfect? Well, even though I made it up, it certainly sounds like the past perfect verb tense.
The past perfect verb tense shows that something had been done before a different, more recent past event. In the above example, the writer had accomplished that list of things before they turned thirty. Often, the past perfect gives someone a status or achievement.
No matter the order of the actions in the sentence, the present perfect tense shows that that action occurred first. Even if the past perfect verb gets placed last in a sentence, the past perfect tense implies that verb occurred first in the story.
Use this tense to describe:
1. An action that had taken place before another past action
- My mom had left the house before Dad got home.
- When Dad arrived, mom had brought dinner home.
- Before we got a cat, we had owned a dog for a few years.
2. Accomplishments or statuses achieved, before past events
- Michael Jordan had won six championships before retiring.
- By the time Taylow Swift made Red, she had released five albums.
- Last year, after I had turned 21, I had my first adult beverage.
3. An action that had repeated occurrences during a time period, before a past event
- Your grandpa and I had sent letters back and forth that whole year.
- Our basketball team had won eight games in a row, when I got injured.
- I had won most of the mini games during that week of summer camp.
4. Circumstances that would have happened, given different conditions
- Had I known all the trouble it would cause, I would never have lied.
- We wouldn’t have eaten all those burgers if we had thought it would make us sick.
- Had he said something about the heat, I would have brought lighter clothes.
How to Form the Past Perfect Tense
Subject + had + [past participle]
- I had enjoyed the movie.
- We had gone to the theater.
- You had met me outside the entrance
- He had sold me a ticket.
- They had kicked us out.
Note: the past participle is the -ed or -d form of a verb, the most basic past form.
Common modifiers that go after had
Just, placed after had, emphasizes that the past perfect verb finished very shortly before the following verb.
- We had just finished eating before Lawrence showed up to dinner.
- Santa had just gone back up the chimney, when the little boy came downstairs.
Already, placed after had, emphasizes that the past perfect verb had completed before another past action.
- By the time she showed up, he had already gossiped about her for hours.
- We had already heard the information before you told us.
Negative version of present perfect verb tense: Subject + had + not + past participle
- We had not escaped enemy lands before they started attacking.
- I had not eaten any breakfast when my dad demanded we head out for the day.
- Ricky got scolded, even though he had not done anything wrong.
Interrogative (question) version: Had + subject + past participle ?
- Had you gotten dressed when the police officers came to your door
- Had he told you about his plans ahead of time?
- Where had you hidden your jewelry?
Now you can describe past events perfectly. It takes a bit of practice to internalize the various verb tenses, but by consulting the rules and patterns presented here, you will develop the ability to clearly express complex time-related actions. As your subjects’ actions grow in complexity, don’t forget to prioritize clarity, and always enjoy the process of writing.
