The Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is formed with the auxiliary verb Had and the Past Participle. We can only use this tense if a definite past time has already been introduced. The past perfect tense expresses an earlier past time. Look at the sentences on the following chart. Note that the verbs in the past perfect tense refer to an earlier past time.

A Past Time †Simple PastTense	An Earlier Past Time †Past Perfect Tense
Galinka got married.	Her parents had spoiled her.
She went to her bridegroom's home.	She had never even prepared a meal.
She watched her mother-in-law working in the kitchen.	She thought she would treat her just as her mother had treated her.
Galinka got up the first morning.	The family had already gone to the fields.
The family returned home.	Galinka had not done anything to help out in the house.
She went to bed hungry the first couple of nights.	The father-in-law had not let her eat.
She got up the third day and looked for everyone.	They had already left for the fields.
She cleaned the house and made the dough.	She had seen her mother-in-law do these things.
It was hard spinning the thread.	She had never made thread before.
The young man and his parents came home.	They saw what Galinka had done.
That night her father-in-law offered Galinka the biggest piece of bread.	She had worked hard all day.
Listen

Quiz 1 Quiz 2Return