The formula of the past perfect tense is had + past participle. So, students should know when and how to use the past perfect tense so they add more insight and diversity to their sentences. The past perfect tense is interesting because it enables you to compare different actions and times in the past. 'I’m going to be a little late to work today because when I reached the station, the train had already left.' Frustrated, you might want to call your boss and tell him something like this. But to your dismay, the train was just leaving when you reached the station. Imagine that you awaked a little late this morning, rushed through your daily routine, and hurried to the metro hoping to catch the usual 8 o’clock train so you could reach work by 9. The problem is many people use the simple past and past perfect interchangeably, which is not something we encourage because each of these tenses has its own specific functions. The past perfect tense, also called the pluperfect tense, is one of the higher-order tenses and using it correctly is often not a piece of cake. The three perfect tenses are past perfect tense, present perfect tense, and future perfect tense. In this lesson, we are going to discuss in detail the functions of each of the three perfect tenses in English. As is the case with every tense in English, each perfect tense has a unique formula. Perfect tenses can appear in any of the three forms: the past perfect tense, the present perfect tense, and the future perfect tense. What Is a Perfect Tense?Īs the name suggests, a perfect tense denotes an action that is completed. Just as we have progressive tenses to talk about things that are going on, we have perfect tenses to express actions that are completed. All actions are represented by at least one – in many cases more than one – of the 12 tenses in English. In other words, no action ever goes unattended or not represented. If the verb ends with a consonant, ‘ed’ is added.Have you ever learned what a perfect tense is? English tenses are so rich that there is some tense that so beautifully captures the essence of every action that happens in the world – tense-wise.

If the verb ends with a vowel, only ‘d’ is added.These verbs do not undergo substantial changes while changing forms between tenses. Unlike irregular verbs, those verbs that form their past participle with ‘d’ or ‘ed’ are regular verbs.

Present tense past tense list