This tag is for questions about the usage of the past perfect tense.
The past perfect is the form of a verb that expresses an action completed before a particular point in the past, formed in English with had and the past participle.
Questions tagged [past-perfect]
982 questions
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When is the past perfect exactly needed?
I have never had this problem before. But after seeing some questions posted on ELU, I started to doubt. I have been through links1, pages of grammar books2, a lot of questions3 posted here and ELU. I now still can't seem to understand how the past…
user1513
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"I realized I had forgotten something" vs "I realized having forgotten something"
Are the following expressions both correct?
I realized I had forgotten something.
I realized having forgotten something.
What is the difference in the meaning (if any)?
Taiki Bessho
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Is it necessary to use past perfect tenses with words like "before" or "after"?
I had never done anything crazy in my life before I started learning how to skydive five months ago.
I never did anything crazy in my life before I started learning......
Are both the above sentences grammatically correct?
I see natives not using…
lekon chekon
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the usage of past perfect in a particular sentence
On the evening of November 8, 1923, with a coming snowfall in the air, Adolf Hitler, a thirty-four-year-old politician known for his hot rhetoric, forced his way into a crowded beer hall on the southeast side of Munich. Surrounded by three…
bart-leby
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Past Perfect or Past Perfect Progressive?
They had driven ten miles when the car broke down.
They had been driving ten miles when the car broke down.
I am sure that the first sentence is correct. The second action happened when they had already covered ten miles. But I wonder if the…
V.V.
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past perfect necessary here
I went to a cafe after I had left Amar. I had just sat down when Emily walked in. After we had a coffee, we talked about my relationship with my ex-boyfriend Andy back in the USA. She did not know that I had got engaged to him that we had planned…
Yves Lefol
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Use of Past Perfect Tense and Simple Past
Yesterday I called my doctor but could not get his appointment. Hence Today I again tried for his appointment.
I started our conversation with receptionist as follows.
Yesterday, I had called for an appointment but could not get doctor’s…
user4084
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"The car had still cost Jake 1500 even after the price was reduced. " -- Why does the sentence use the Past Perfect?
The car had still cost Jake 1500 even after the price was reduced.
I am currently learning past perfect and I don't understand why the above sentence (which has no particular context) uses it.
From what I understood, you use past perfect to…
bluejimmy
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Function of past perfect in present context
Strange Obsessions has long been the holy grail of fervent record collectors worldwide. Rumors have abound that this album had been released in Holland and or that there were a small number of white label test pressings in existence but none of…
Yves Lefol
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Past perfect usage with simultaneous events?
I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird and I came across a sentence:
This was the first {time} he had let us know he knew a lot more about something than we thought he knew.
I can't understand the usage of past perfect in the second clause (he had…
Manish Kumar Balayan
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Does the place of past perfect change the meaning of a sentence
In this excerpt from Roald Dahl's story Lamb to the Slaughter:
And when it was all wrapped and she had paid, she put on her brightest smile and said “Thank you, Sam. Goodnight.”
I think this sentence means that she paid first, and then it was…
Yves Lefol
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past perfect in a particular sentence
After they returned to Jaspers's house Jaspers tried to draw Heidegger out, remarking that surely his friend could not agree with Nazis on the Jewish question. Heidegger: But there is a dangerous international network of Jews. Jaspers: How can…
bart-leby
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Use of Past Perfect in Leo Rosten's "O Kaplan! My Kaplan!"
An excerpt from Leo Rosten's "O Kaplan! My Kaplan!":
"Excellent... And now, class, let me take one moment to note that there are certain exceptions-"
Groans instantly greeted the ominous 'exceptions'. The beginners' grade had long ago learned to…
CowperKettle
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Why is this correct? "I met you before you had met her."
I met you before you had met her.
I had met you before you met her.
I asked a native speaker from America about these two sentences. He said that they are both grammatically correct, but he prefers the first one. (Though he described them as very…
mosceo
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Past perfect in "after" and "before" clauses
A lot of opinions on the proper use of the past perfect seem quite contradictory. One that's been puzzling me is it's usage in the clauses that incorporate words such as "before" or "after", that clearly mark the chronology of events. Even though…
Bebop B.
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