The Past Perfect Tense

An English teacher shows how to make the past perfect tense: had + past participle. The past perfect shows that something happened before another past event.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ESL

[cyclone100100]

Hi thank you for the lessons. I have learnt so many things from you. I have got one question. If I say, I lived in so many places before I moved to this place, would the sentence be correct? please reply.

[learnamericanenglish]

@cyclone100100 - Hi. You can say "I have lived in many places..." or "I lived in many places..." Take a look at my video lesson on the present perfect tense. That might help you. Paul

[potentperson]

"She'd had many bad jobs in the past, but her new job was okay"

I'm not sure if that's correct. Wouldn't you say her new job WAS okay? or else change the tense and say "She's had many bad jobs in the past, but her new job is okay". Please let me know what you think!

[learnamericanenglish]

Yes, you're right. I'll have to look at the video again.

"Her new job is okay," is better for that particular example. "Her new job was okay," is not impossible, but it could be confusing for some people.

Thanks for alerting me to this.

[GundulaGause007]

jah cool ich lern englisch :)

I had not gone to the cinema yesterday.

[learnamericanenglish]

Wie geht's?

Most Americans don't use the word "cinema." It sounds too artsy, but you can use it if you want to.

Here's an example with "go":

Before the age of ten, I had never gone to see a movie in a movie theater.

[gitsferrari]

@potentperson I'm sorry, I thought you had a sense of humor. Everyone is so serious in these ESL comments.

[potentperson]

@gitsferrari I said I DON'T wanna picka fight fool. I am trying to get to the bottom of the issue. I am seriously asking if there's a mistake in the video or not - I would like to know the answer.  Is that wrong of me?

[gitsferrari]

@potentperson Sent from an alternative account since I WAS BLOCKED "you have been blocked by the owner of this video." If you wanna picka fight, start by apologizing for your mistakes and then tell me how you'd love to hear back from me. I'm not sure if I should flame you with ring-around-you-running-logic, or by sending you a cake. Just watch yourself.

[potentperson]

@davidstighansen Sorry, I made a mistake in my original comment, by not making a mistake lol. The video says "she'D HAD many bad jobs in the past, but her new job IS okay". How can you mix past perfect and present simple? Surely you want she has had + new job is ...OR... she had had + new job was? I'd love to hear back from you - I'm not trying to pick a fight, I promise! :)

[davidstighansen]

@potentperson She'd had many bad jobs but her LAST one was ok. It depends if she still has the job. The first example describes a situation where she is currently unemployed. "She'd had many bad jobs in the past, but her new job was okay"

[gnasher1001]

My friend had said she,

[gnasher1001]

My friend wants to marry you

[DeMarkieSade]

"She'd had many bad jobs in the past, but her new job is okay."

This would be mixing the past perfect tense with the simple present, would it not?

"She's had many bad jobs in the past but her new job is okay."

This would be both a present perfect and simple present tense?

"She'd had many bad jobs in the past, but her new job was okay."

In each clause, the tenses must match.

Paul, you should do a video on verb tense agreement.

[naj5554]

i hadn't understood this lesson before i saw this video

thanks

[pony85]

THANK YOU ... YOU ARE THE BEST !!!