How do we make the past perfect tense in English?
Note: This is also called the past perfect simple tense.
Positive form
Use the past simple of have (had) and the past participle.
| Full form | Short form |
| I had played | I’d played |
| you had played | you’d played |
| he had played | he’d played |
| she had played | she’d played |
| it had played | it’d played |
| we had played | we’d played |
| they had played | they’d played |
For example:
- I had played chess with him before.
- She’d worked there since 2015.
- They’d already cleaned the bathroom.
Some notes on short forms:
1. We usually contract had with personal pronouns in speaking and informal writing: I’d, you’d, he’d, etc.
2. We usually contract had with the words that, this, those and these in speaking, and sometimes in informal writing: that’d, those’d, etc.
3. We often contract had with nouns and other words in speaking, but not in writing. For example, we do not usually write: Jane’d, the dog’d, nobody’d, etc.
4. We do not usually contract verbs in writing if we have a compound subject: Jane and I’d.
Negative form
Put not after the past simple of have (had).
| Full form | Short forms | |
| I had not played | I hadn’t played | *I’d not played |
| you had not played | you hadn’t played | you’d not played |
| he had not played | he hadn’t played | he’d not played |
| she had not played | she hadn’t played | she’d not played |
| it had not played | it hadn’t played | it’d not played |
| we had not played | we hadn’t played | we’d not played |
| they had not played | they hadn’t played | they’d not played |
*The structure in the third column is sometimes used in British English, but it is rarely used in other varieties of English. When used in other varieties, it sounds quite formal.
For example:
- I hadn’t finished my assignment by the deadline.
- Melissa hadn’t been to Australia before. (she hadn’t been)
- It had not arrived yet.
- He hadn’t spoken to them all day.
- We’d not seen her since Christmas.
Question forms
Invert the subject and had, and then put a question word (what, who, etc.) at the beginning for wh- questions.
| Yes/No questions | |
| Had I played? | |
| Had you played? | |
| Had he played? | |
| Had she played? | |
| Had it played? | |
| Had we played? | |
| Had they played? | |
| Wh- questions | |
| What Who Where When Why How etc. | had I played? |
| had you played? | |
| had he played? | |
| had she played? | |
| had it played? | |
| had we played? | |
| had they played? | |
For example:
- Had I written the address correctly?
- Had you seen the movie before?
- Had Maria emailed you the results yet? (had she emailed)
- What had you done that day?
- How long had we known John when he got married?
- Who had they invited to the party?
Short answers
| Positive | Negative | |
| Yes, I had. | No, I hadn’t. | *No, I’d not. |
| Yes, you had. | No, you hadn’t. | No, you’d not. |
| Yes, he had. | No, he hadn’t. | No, he’d not. |
| Yes, she had. | No, she hadn’t. | No, she’d not. |
| Yes, it had. | No, it hadn’t. | No, it’d not. |
| Yes, we had. | No, we hadn’t. | No, we’d not. |
| Yes, they had. | No, they hadn’t. | No, they’d not. |
*The structure in the third column is sometimes used in British English, but it is rarely used in other varieties of English. When used in other varieties, it sounds quite formal.
Notes:
1. We do not use short forms in positive short answers.
2. We sometimes use full forms in negative short answers (e.g. No, I had not.), but this is rare and mainly used in very formal contexts or for emphasis.