8/19/2019 Past Perfect Aspect

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Past perfect aspect – articleBy Kerry G Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield 

Type: Reference material 

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 An article by Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield on ways to aroach teachin! theast erfect asect"

#ntrod$ction %escribin! a se&$ence of ast e'ents Reortin! ast e'ents ther $ses Past erfect

contin$o$s

Introduction

he erfect asect $s$ally describes e'ents or states which occ$r or be!in d$rin! a ast eriod of time"

he resent erfect* as in* e"!"+

I have read your letter.

imlies a connection between somethin! that haened in the ast and a resent moment in time" ,ycontrast the ast erfect* formed from a$xiliary had l$s a ast articile* as in* e"!"+

I had read your letter.

refers to an action or sit$ation which occ$rred before a artic$lar time in the ast* and therefore reresentsa connection between somethin! which haened in the ast and a ast moment in time"

#f we want to tal- abo$t a ast e'ent or sit$ation that haened earlier than a artic$lar time in the ast* b$thas an effect on that ast time* we therefore $se the ast erfect* e"!"+

She had lost her .ob and was wor-in! as a waitress when # met her"

I didn’t go to the lm with Adrienne because I had already seen it.

 As the examles show* the ast erfect $s$ally refers to e'ents or sit$ations which are comlete before aartic$lar ast time" /owe'er with certain 'erbs it can sometimes be $sed to refer to an action or statewhich started in the ast b$t still haened or existed at the ast moment yo$ are tal-in! abo$t* e"!"+

She wanted to borrow my book but I hadn’t nished it.

She was my best friend I had known her since we were small children.

Describing a sequence of past events

he ast erfect is often $sed with the simle ast when describin! a se&$ence of ast e'ents"

he simle ast form is $s$ally $sed to describe a se&$ence of ast e'ents in chronolo!ical order* e"!"+

 !anice and !oan started running the children’s holiday club in September "##$. In !uly "##$

they moved into the local village hall and spent the summer preparing the rooms. %n the &th

September the club opened for the rst time.

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/owe'er* if we want to refer to an e'ent which haened before one of the ast e'ents in the se&$ence* inother words* an e'ent which is o$t of chronolo!ical order in the descrition* we can $se the ast erfect*e"!"+

0anice and 0oan started r$nnin! the childrens holiday cl$b in Setember 2334" hey had both !i'en $their .obs as rimary school teachers" #n 0$ly 2334 they mo'ed into the local 'illa!e hall and sent the

s$mmer rearin! the rooms" n the 5th Setember the cl$b oened for the first time"

#n this second descrition* the $se of the ast erfect indicates that 0anice and 0oan !a'e $ their .obs asteachers before they started r$nnin! the cl$b in Setember 2334" So the act$al order of e'ents is+

1" !a'e $ .obs as teachers2" mo'ed into the 'illa!e hall4" sent the s$mmer rearin!6" the cl$b oened7they started r$nnin! the cl$b

8hereas the order of e'ents as they are mentioned is+

1" started r$nnin! the cl$b

2" !a'e $ .obs as teachers4" mo'ed into the 'illa!e hall6" sent the s$mmer rearin!5" the cl$b oened

8hen it is $nderstood that we are tal-in! abo$t e'ents which occ$rred before a ast e'ent* we dont ha'eto contin$e $sin! the ast erfect* e"!"+

 !anice and !oan started the club in September "##$. 'hey’d given up their (obs as primary

school teachers and they applied for a grant from the education authority. 'hey got the grant

and started making preparations in !uly.

wo$ld mean the same as+

0anice and 0oan started the cl$b in Setember 2334" heyd !i'en $ their .obs as rimary school teachersand they had alied for a !rantfrom the ed$cation a$thority" hey had !ot the !rant and had started ma-in! rearations in 0$ly"

Reporting past events

he ast erfect is often $sed to reort somethin! that was ori!inally tal-ed abo$t in the resent erfect orast simle* e"!"+

)I think I’ve lost my glasses.) I thought that I had lost my glasses.

)*ou haven’t grown very much.) +hen I last saw Alice I didn’t think that she had grown very

much.

 'he little girl died in the accident. 'he police reported that the little girl had died in the

accident.

,e stole my wallet. ,e admitted that he had stolen my wallet.

#n the same way that the resent erfect is often $sed with .$st to reort e'ents that occ$rred immediatelybefore the resent time* e"!"+

 *our parents have (ust arrived.

the ast erfect is often $sed with .$st to tal- abo$t e'ents that occ$rred immediately before a ast momentin time"

I had (ust started eating dinner when they arrived.

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I was feeling really tired because I had (ust nished work.

Other uses

0$st as the ast simle is often $sed to exress an $nreal sit$ation in the resent* e"!"+

Imagine we were rich.

the ast erfect is sometimes $sed to exress an $nreal sit$ation in the ast* e"!+

Suppose you had won the lottery.

he ast erfect is often $sed in $nreal conditional sentences to refer to an ima!inary ast action or state*e"!"+

If she had taken a ta-i she would have arrived at the airport on time.

9o$ wo$ld ha'e assed yo$r exams if yo$ had done more re'ision"

I would have done your shopping if I’d known you were ill.

he ast erfect is also often $sed to tal- abo$t thin!s that we intended to do* b$t for some reason didnt*e"!"+

I had hoped to visit the 'ate allery when I was in /ondon but it was closed.

or thin!s that we intended to do* b$t beca$se of a artic$lar reason we wont now do in the f$t$re* e"!"+

She had planned to cook salmon for the dinner party but Simon doesn’t like it.

Past perfect continuoushe ast erfect can combine with the contin$o$s asect to form the ast erfect contin$o$s" he asterfect contin$o$s is formed from a$xiliary had : been : !er$nd* e"!+

# had been writin! a letter"

She had been sleeping.

he ast erfect contin$o$s is $sed to tal- abo$t a sit$ation or acti'ity which was in ro!ress $ to or .$stbefore a ast oint in time* e"!"+

8ed been tra'ellin! for three ho$rs when the accident haened"

I’d been feeling ill all day so I went to bed at 0 o’clock.

8hereas the ast erfect is $sed to tal- abo$t a finished acti'ity before a ast time* the ast erfectcontin$o$s is $s$ally $sed to emhasi;e the d$ration of a ast acti'ity before a ast oint in time" #n otherwords* we can say that the ast erfect foc$ses on the res$lt of a ast acti'ity whereas the ast erfectcontin$o$s foc$ses on the rocess* comare* e"!"+

#d ainted the !ate and it loo-ed m$ch better" (res$lt < ast erfect)

I’d been painting the gate and my clothes were all messy 1process – past perfect continuous2.

he ast erfect contin$o$s can howe'er be $sed to tal- abo$t a sit$ation or acti'ity that be!an before aartic$lar ast time and finished at that time or shortly before it* e"!"+

+e’d been walking for half an hour when 3hris suddenly fell over.

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Readers' comments (1)

• mel tisdale @ h$* Se 2311 3+1 am

his s$ffers from the common fa$lt of !i'in! stand<alone sentences with no time reference" Consider theabo'e+ B#f she had ta-en a taxi* she wo$ld ha'e arri'ed at the airort on time"B #t is said to be ima!inary" =ottr$e if it is disc$ssin! someone who on occasions too- a taxi and on others did not" #"e" the ta-in! of the taxi

was in the ast of the ast" Sometimes she was on time* and on others not"

here is a !ramar r$le that alies* b$t yo$ ne'er find it in any literat$re* not e'en in A Comrehensi'erammar f he En!lish Lan!$a!e" 0$st for f$n* constr$ct a mixed first third conditional (they are ne'er inco$rseboo-s)" 9o$ will find that the third conditional comonent is always real* not ima!inary"