PAST PERFECT

FORMATION:

had + Past Participle

Magda had cleaned three windows before we came. – Had she also dusted the furniture? – No, she hadn’t dusted the furniture as she had been very busy with the windows.

PAST PERFECT IS USED:

1. For an action, which happened before another past action or before a stated time in the past.

She had finished work when she met her friends for coffee. (She finished work first and only then she met her friends.)

2. For an action which finished in the past and whose result was visible in the past.

He was happy. He had signed an important contract. (The action finished in the past and its result was visible in the past too.)

3. Past perfect is the past equivalent of present perfect. Compare:

Past Perfect	Present Perfect
He had fixed the old armchair. It looked brand new. (The action had fixed happened in the past. The result looked brand new was also visible in the past.)	He has fixed the old armchair. It looks brand new. (The action has fixed happened in the past. The result looks brand new is still visible in the present.)

4. The past perfect is used with the following time expressions (adverbial modifiers of time):

before after already just for since when by ever never by the time till/until

NOTE: It is possible to use past perfect or past simple with before or after without any difference in meaning, e.g.

They went out after it had stopped raining. = They went out after it stopped raining.

5. Past Perfect is used with stative verbs instead of Past Perfect Continuous, e.g.

James had been away for some months before his first letter came.

6. Past Perfect is preferred in negative sentences instead of Past Perfect Continuous, e.g.

It had not rained for three months before that awful thunderstorm.

7. Past Perfect is used in emphatic sentences with conjunctions

Hardly …when Scarcely … when No sooner ….than

The Russian/ Ukrainian translation of such emphatic sentences is given below.

HARDLY had Tom started whitewashing the fence, WHEN his friend Jim came up to him. = Не встиг Том почати білити тин, як до нього підійшов його друг Джим.

SCARCELY had Cinderella tasted her ice-cream, WHEN she heard the clock struck twelve. = Ледь Попелюшка встигла спробувати морозиво, як вона почула, що годинник пробив 12.

NO SOONER HAD Thumbelina hidden the Swallow, THAN the Rat appeared. = Ледь Дюймовочка встигла сховати Ластівку, як з’явився Пацюк.