Le Past Perfect est utilisé pour parler d’une action qui s’est produite avant une autre action dans le passé. C’est le “passé du passé”.
1. Formation
On utilise l’auxiliaire HAD (pour tous les pronoms) + le Participe Passé du verbe (terminaison -ed ou 3ème colonne des verbes irréguliers).
| Pronom | Exemple (Finish) |
|---|---|
| I / You / He / She / It | had finished |
| We / You / They | had finished |
- Contraction : I had -> I’d, They had -> They’d.
- Négatif : had not -> hadn’t.
2. Utilisation : L’ordre des événements
On l’utilise souvent avec le Past Simple pour clarifier quel événement est arrivé en premier.
- When I arrived at the station, the train had already left.
- Le train est parti (Past Perfect).
- Je suis arrivé (Past Simple).
3. Mots clés
- Before / After : He had cleaned the house before the guests arrived.
- By the time : By the time we got there, the show had started.
- Just / Already : I had just finished my lunch when he called.
À toi de jouer ! ✍️
Complète avec la forme correcte (Past Simple ou Past Perfect).
À toi de jouer ! ✍️
#1 The movie (start) before we arrived at the cinema.
#2 I (not / see) him for years until we met yesterday.
#3 She (eat) dinner, so she wasn't hungry.
#4 By the time the police (arrive) , the thief had escaped.
#5 I (know) that I (see) that man before.
#6 He (fail) the test because he hadn't studied.
#7 The grass was yellow because it (not / rain) for weeks.
#8 I (find) the book that I (lose) .
#9 When we (get) to the party, they had already eaten the cake.
#10 I (not / recognize) her because she had changed so much.