El Past Perfect Simple
- El Past Perfect Simple conecta dos puntos en el tiempo en el pasado. Típicamente, nos referimos a un punto en el tiempo en el pasado y lo que lo precedió. Este tiempo se usa para proporcionar una imagen más completa de un evento o período en el pasado.
- Examinemos la siguiente oración: “We were discussing which movie to watch and someone suggested we watched Die Hard with Bruce Willis. I had seen this movie before.” El hablante quizá está tratando de decir que no estaba interesado en ver la película otra vez o que podía proporcionar información sobre la película. Lo hace describiendo una acción que precedió al punto en el tiempo en que estaban discutiendo qué película ver. Esa acción ocurrió antes de la discusión y tuvo un impacto en ella.
Usamos el Past Perfect Simple para hablar de:
- Experiencias personales o profesionales y logros hasta un punto en el pasado
- Superlativos relacionados con un punto en el pasado
- Situaciones desde el pasado hasta un punto en el pasado
- Una acción no completada con importancia hasta un punto en el pasado
- Cuánto se había completado de una tarea hasta un punto en el pasado
- Cambios que afectaron un punto en el pasado
- Cuántas veces había ocurrido algo hasta un punto en el pasado
- Cosas que acababan de ocurrir y tenían un resultado en un punto en el pasado
- Hitos en una historia
| I had never been to New York before we moved there in 1998. (experiencia) | She had worked for a big company before she started her work at Intel, that's why she didn't find it difficult to get used to procedures. (experiencia) |
| The first time I saw Forrest Gump in the theatre I thought it was the best movie I'd ever seen. (superlativos relacionados con un punto en el pasado) | At that time during the 2008 Olympics, it was the biggest swimming pool any country had ever built in history. (superlativos relacionados con un punto en el pasado) |
| I had been in New York for 15 years when I finally decided to move back to Germany in 2010. (situaciones) | She had known Jack for 9 years prior to their engagement. (situaciones) |
| In June 1943, before the invasion, the general hadn't yet figured out a clear strategy to defeat the enemy. (acción no completada hasta un punto en el pasado) | Remember?! You hadn't bought tickets and we had to wait out in the rain in line for 45 minutes. (acción no completada hasta un punto en el pasado) |
| We had booked the caterers, but hadn't sent the invitations, that's why everyone was so late, we had to call everyone one by one. (cuánto se había completado) | I had prepared the food, called the guests, but hadn't made the cake; I had nothing to give the guests when they arrived. (cuánto se había completado) |
| The weather had become colder, we had to buy ourselves some warm clothes. (cambios en el pasado) | The cost of living had gone up; we were forced to move to a smaller apartment. (cambios en el pasado) |
| By the end of December, it had already rained 4 times. (cuántas veces hasta un punto en el pasado) | By the end of last year, she'd already taken the test 3 times. (cuántas veces hasta un punto en el pasado) |
| I was sitting in my room, thinking about her, I had just finished writing a letter to her. (acababa de ocurrir) | Why didn't you buy the car in the end? I wanted to, but when I arrived, the shop had just closed, I was really disappointed. (acababa de ocurrir) |
| So, after a 10 year on and off relationship Jen and Joe had finally gotten married. (hito en una historia) | On 1 September 1939, Germany had invaded Poland, the world was at war. (hito en una historia) |
Estractura del Past Perfect Simple:
I:
I had studied at Bright English.
I had not studied at Bright English.
Had I studied at Bright English?
We:
Ben and I (we) had studied at Bright English.
We had not studied at Bright English.
Had we studied at Bright English?
You:
You had studied at Bright English.
You had not studied at Bright English.
Had you studied at Bright English?
They:
Ben and Maya (they) had studied at Bright English.
They had not studied at Bright English.
Had they studied at Bright English?
He:
Ben (he) had studied at Bright English.
He had not studied at Bright English.
Had he studied at Bright English?
She:
Maya (she) had studied at Bright English.
She had not studied at Bright English.
Had she studied at Bright English?
It:
It (the computer) had studied well.
It had not studied well.
Had it studied well?
Reglas del Past Perfect Simple:
Sujeto + had + participio pasado (I had done)
- Usamos had + participio pasado (v3) para formar el Past Perfect Simple. (I had broken)
- Usamos la forma verbal d, ed, ied en verbos regulares en lugar del v3 (broken). (I had worked there before)
- I, we, you, they, he, she, it = had
- Usamos had para formar preguntas. (Ver la tabla anterior).
- Usamos hadn’t para formar negaciones.
- A diferencia de do, does, did, los auxiliares had no cancelan la conjugación del verbo principal. (He hadn’t seen him before | he didn’t see him | he doesn’t see him a lot)
Expresiones de tiempo comunes en el Past Perfect Simple:
by 2008,2009 etc, before + time expression, never, ever, for, since, already, yet, just.
