El "past perfect" hace referencia a un tiempo anterior al pasado reciente. Se emplea para señalar que un evento ocurrió antes que otro en el pasado. No importa cuál de los eventos se mencione primero, porque el tiempo verbal deja claro el orden temporal en que acontecieron.
En estos ejemplos, el Evento A es el que primero ocurrió y el Evento B tuvo lugar a continuación, es el más reciente:
Evento A
Evento B
John had gone out
when I arrived in the office.
Evento A
Evento B
I had saved my document
before the computer crashed.
Evento B
Evento A
When they arrived
we had already started cooking.
Evento B
Evento A
He was very tired
because he hadn't slept well.
FORMACIÓN DEL "PAST PERFECT"
En inglés, el "past perfect" está compuesto por dos partes: el pasado del verbo to have (had) + el "past participle" del verbo principal.
Sujeto
had
past participle
Afirmativa
She
had
given
Negativa
She
hadn't
asked.
Interrogativa
Had
they
arrived?
Interrogativa negativa
Hadn't
you
finished?
TO DECIDE, "PAST PERFECT"
Afirmativa
Negativa
Interrogativa
I had decided
I hadn't decided
Had I decided?
You had decided
You hadn't decided
Had you decided?
She had decided
She hadn't decided
Had she decided?
We had decided
We hadn't decided
Had we decided?
They had decided
They hadn't decided
Had they decided?
"PAST PERFECT" + JUST
'Just' se utiliza con el "past perfect" para referirse a un evento acontecido muy poco antes de otro evento situado en el pasado, e.g.
The train had just left when I arrived at the station.
She had just left the room when the police arrived.
I had just put the washing out when it started to rain.
In English there are many words that end in ED. There are the regular verbs in past tense that end in ED (like wanted, looked and cleaned etc.), there are regular past participles that end in ED (needed, watched, used etc.), and there are also adjectives that end in ED (e.g. shocked, bored etc.).
However, did you know that there are three different ways to pronounce ED at the end of a word in English?
Yes, the ED in wanted is pronounced differently to the ED in washed, which is also different to the ED in called.
Here is our latest video to help you learn the simple rules for pronouncing the final ED in English:
This new video shows you How to pronounce –ED endings in English (a English Pronunciation Lesson).
In this video we look at the 3 ways of pronouncing ED at the end of words in English which are /id/ – /t/ – /d/.
We go into detail about the rules you need to know for the correction pronunciation of any ED ending that you may encounter.
Remember, these rules are not only for regular verbs in the PAST TENSE (which end in ED) but also for regular PAST PARTICIPLES and ADJECTIVES that end in ED.
There is a special section about voiced and voiceless (or unvoiced) sounds in English.
You will also find our ED Pronunciation chart where you will hear how each each word is said.
Here is our updated ED pronunciation chart from the video:
For more information about how to pronounce ED at the end of words in English, see our page about the Pronunciation of ED in English.
The questions in these games are similiar to this: “The ED at the end of the word KISSED is pronounced …” and you then need to choose one of the three alternatives.
The following is a list of Irregular Verbs in English:
Verb
Past Simple
Past Participle
arise
arose
arisen
babysit
babysat
babysat
be
was / were
been
beat
beat
beaten
become
became
become
bend
bent
bent
begin
began
begun
bet
bet
bet
bind
bound
bound
bite
bit
bitten
bleed
bled
bled
blow
blew
blown
break
broke
broken
breed
bred
bred
bring
brought
brought
broadcast
broadcast
broadcast
build
built
built
buy
bought
bought
catch
caught
caught
choose
chose
chosen
come
came
come
cost
cost
cost
cut
cut
cut
deal
dealt
dealt
dig
dug
dug
do
did
done
draw
drew
drawn
drink
drank
drunk
drive
drove
driven
eat
ate
eaten
fall
fell
fallen
feed
fed
fed
feel
felt
felt
fight
fought
fought
find
found
found
fly
flew
flown
forbid
forbade
forbidden
forget
forgot
forgotten
forgive
forgave
forgiven
freeze
froze
frozen
get
got
got (BrE) gotten (AmE)
give
gave
given
go
went
gone
grow
grew
grown
hang*
hung
hung
have
had
had
hear
heard
heard
hide
hid
hidden
hit
hit
hit
hold
held
held
hurt
hurt
hurt
keep
kept
kept
know
knew
known
lay
laid
laid
lead
led
led
leave
left
left
lend
lent
lent
let
let
let
lie **
lay
lain
light
lit
lit
lose
lost
lost
make
made
made
mean
meant
meant
meet
met
met
pay
paid
paid
put
put
put
quit
quit
quit
read ***
read
read
ride
rode
ridden
ring
rang
rung
rise
rose
risen
run
ran
run
say
said
said
see
saw
seen
sell
sold
sold
send
sent
sent
set
set
set
shake
shook
shaken
shine
shone
shone
shoot
shot
shot
show
showed
shown
shut
shut
shut
sing
sang
sung
sink
sank
sunk
sit
sat
sat
sleep
slept
slept
slide
slid
slid
speak
spoke
spoken
speed
sped
sped
spend
spent
spent
spin
spun
spun
spread
spread
spread
stand
stood
stood
steal
stole
stolen
stick
stuck
stuck
sting
stung
stung
strike
struck
struck
swear
swore
sworn
sweep
swept
swept
swim
swam
swum
swing
swung
swung
take
took
taken
teach
taught
taught
tear
tore
torn
tell
told
told
think
thought
thought
throw
threw
thrown
understand
understood
understood
wake
woke
woken
wear
wore
worn
win
won
won
withdraw
withdrew
withdrawn
write
wrote
written
* HANG - Hang has two different meanings. The first is "to attach (or hang) something in a high position" (e.g. on the wall or on a hook). In this case we use the above verbs Hang-Hung-Hung.
BUT when Hang means "to kill someone by putting a rope around someone's neck and leaving them in a high position without any support", we use different verbs: Hang-Hanged-hanged. This verb is typical of public executions in the past. (e.g. They hanged him in the main square.)
** LIE - Lie has two meanings. When it means "to put your body in a horizontal position" (normally on a bed) it uses the Lie-Lay-Lain verbs.
BUT it is regular Lie-Lied-Lied when it has the other meaning of "not to say the truth".
*** READ - Even though they are written the same, the pronunciation is different in the Past Tense and Past Participle form.
Part Two
The following verbs can be regular or irregular:
Verb
Past Simple
Past Participle
burn
burned OR burnt
burned OR burnt
dream
dreamed OR dreamt
dreamed OR dreamt
learn
learned OR learnt
learned OR learnt
smell
smelled OR smelt
smelled OR smelt
The second form (burnt, dreamt etc.) is more common in British English.
Part Three
Verbs that have the same form in Present, Past and Past Participle form:
Verb
Past Simple
Past Participle
bet
bet
bet
broadcast
broadcast
broadcast
cut
cut
cut
hit
hit
hit
hurt
hurt
hurt
let
let
let
put
put
put
quit
quit
quit
read
read
read
set
set
set
shut
shut
shut
spread
spread
spread
All of the verbs above are written and pronounced the same in the three forms EXCEPT for Read which is written the same but pronounced differently.
The Simple Past Tense, often just called the Past Tense, is easy to use in English.
If you already know how to use the Present Tense, then the Past Tense will be easy.
In general, the Past Tense is used to talk about something that started and finished at a definite time in the past.
How to form the Past Tense in English
The main rule is that for every verb in English, there is only one form of it in the past tense.
(The exception is the Past tense of To Be, which has two forms: was and were)
This is totally different from other languages such as Spanish, French, Italian etc. where you change the verb ending for every subject.
For example: The past tense of the verb want is wanted. Wanted is used as the past tense for all subjects/pronouns.
I wanted
You wanted
He wanted
She wanted
It wanted
We wanted
They wanted
So you just have to learn one word to be able to use it in the past tense. In this case we just needed to learn the one word wanted which can be used for all subjects (or people).
Past Tense Regular Verbs
To change a regular verb into its past tense form, we normally add –ED to the end of the verb.
Examples of sentences using regular verbs in the past tense
Last night I played my guitar loudly and the neighbors complained.
She kissed me on the cheek.
It rained yesterday.
Angela watched TV all night.
John wanted to go to the museum.
Note: There are three different ways of pronouncing the –ed at the end of a verb in the past tense.
We recommend reading our guide about the pronunciation of –ED at the end of words.
Negative sentences in the Past Tense
We use didn't (did not) to make a negative sentence in the past tense.
This is for regular AND irregular verbs in English.
(Exception is To Be and Modal Verbs such as Can)
Compare the following:
Present: They don't live in Canada.
Past: They didn't live in Canada.
The main verb (live in the example above) is in its base form (of the infinitive). The auxiliary DIDN'T shows that the sentence is negative AND in the past tense.
NOTICE: The only difference between a negative sentence in the present tense and a negative sentence in the past tense is the change in the auxiliary verb.
Both don't and doesn't in the present tense become didn't in the past tense.
Compare the negative sentences in the examples below:
Present: You don't need a mechanic.
Past: You didn't need a mechanic.
Present: You don't walk to work.
Past: You didn't walk to work.
Present: He doesn't speak Japanese.
Past: He didn't speak Japanese.
Examples of negative sentences in the Past Tense
I didn't want to go to the dentist.
She didn't have time.
You didn't close the door.
He didn't come to my party.
They didn't study so they didn't pass the test.
We didn't sleep well last night.
Questions in the Past Tense
We use did to make a question in the past tense.
This is for regular AND irregular verbs in English.
(Exception is To Be and Modal Verbs such as Can)
Compare the following:
Present: Do they live in France?
Past: Did they live in France?
The main verb (live in the example above) is in its base form (of the infinitive). The auxiliary DID shows that the question is in the past tense.
NOTICE: The only difference between a question in the present tense and a question in the past tense is the change in the auxiliary verb.
Both Do and Does in present tense questions become Didn't in past tense questions.
Compare the questions in the examples below:
Present: Do you need a doctor?
Past: Did you need a doctor?
Present: Do you ride your bike to work?
Past: Did you ride your bike to work?
Present: Does he live in Italy?
Past: Did he live in Italy?
We can also use a question word (Who, What, Why etc.) before DID to ask for more information.
