Past Perfect Tense

The pluperfect, also known as the past perfect in English, is a verb form that refers to an action that occurred before a specific time in the past. 

It is generally treated as a grammatical tense in certain languages.”We’d arrived” and “they’d written” are two examples in English.

The word comes from the Latin plus quam perfectum, which means “perfect beyond perfection.” In this context, the word “perfect” signifies “completed,” as opposed to “imperfect,” which refers to unfinished actions or conditions.

Because it combines past tense with perfect aspect, the pluperfect (for example, “had written”) is now commonly referred to as the past perfect in English grammar.

Meaning Of Past Perfect Tense-

In modern linguistic terminology, the past perfect tense can be regarded as a tense that combines tense and grammatical aspects, especially past tense (a reference to past time) and perfect aspect (state of being completed).

It’s used to describe an event that had already begun (but not necessarily concluded) at some point in the past.

The past perfect tense is classified as an absolute-relative tense by Bernard Comrie because it establishes deixis (the past event) and sets the action relative to the deixis.

Example-

A man who for years had thought he had reached the absolute limit of all possible adventure now found that adventuring had no limits and that he could adventure still more and more intensely.

The past perfect tense is used in phrases like “had considered” and “had reached.” They relate to an event (a man believing he has reached the limit of his capacity for adventure) that occurs before another event (a man discovering that his capacity for adventure has no limit), which is a past event (referred to in the past tense) (found). 

The past perfect tense is used to emphasise that the first event (thinking and ostensibly reaching) occurs much earlier in time.

Uses Of Past Perfect Tense-

1. To make it obvious which action occurred first, we normally employ the past perfect. Perhaps we’re already discussing something from the past and want to bring up something from a different era. This is frequently used to explain or justify something that happened in the past. The past perfect is optional if it is evident which action occurred first (for example, if we use the terms ‘before’ or ‘after’).
2. Past Perfect tense is used where an activity or a period of time that began in the past and continued until another action or period of time in the past.

The past perfect, like the present perfect, tells us ‘how long,’ but this time the action continues to a point in the past rather than the present.’For + time’ is commonly used. Because we can also use the past perfect continuous with stative verbs, we prefer to use the past perfect simple.

1. Past Perfect tense is used to discuss prior events that were unreal or imagined. We use the past perfect (one step back in time) to talk about unreal or imaginary things in the past, just as we use the past simple to talk about unreal or fictitious things in the present. 
2. Reported speech is another example of past perfect tense usage.
3. Dissatisfaction with the past can also be expressed in the past perfect tense.
4. The word “just” can also be used in the past perfect tense. When put together, it’s evident that the event happened not long ago.

How to form Past Perfect Tense-

The past perfect tense is formed by combining the past participle of the primary verb with the past tense of the verb “to have,” which is had.

For instance, past perfect tense = subject + had + past participle.Had been introduced to. 

Example-

She had met her before the party 

The train had left by the time I went to the station.

I had written the article before the deadline.

Meera had wanted to watch the series, but she did not have a subscription.

Importance of past perfect tense –

To show past activities, the past perfect tense is employed. The past perfect tense expresses the past in terms of timing or other past occurrences, and it is frequently employed to report on what happened or was stated in the past. It’s simple to make by combining had with any verb’s past participle.

Examples of Past Perfect Tense-

1. I had never seen such a beautiful garden before I went to Delhi.
2. We were not able to play these games at the camp since we had not reserved a ticket.
3. She had never been to the airport before last night.
4. Muskan knew niyati so well because he had lived there for five years.
5. He understood the accountant test because he had been tutored all week.
6. I did not have any cards because I had lost my wallet.
7. I had been to Mumbai once before.
8. If I had seen him, I would have told him about the incident.

Conclusion-

The past perfect, also known as the pluperfect, is a verb tense that is used to describe activities that occurred in the past. In English, we don’t use the past perfect very often, although it is useful and sounds great when used correctly. It is used to denote something that began in the past and persisted until a subsequent action or moment in the past or to discuss prior events that were unreal or fictional. It’s also quite simple to make: all you need is the past simple of ‘had’ and the past participle.