the past perfectnoun [ S ]
uk/ˌpɑːst ˈpɜː.fekt/us/ˌpæst ˈpɝː.fekt/the grammatical form used for an action that had already finished when another action happened. It is made with "had" and a past participle:
"I had just cooked" is an example of the past perfect, and "I had just been cooking" is an example of the past perfect continuous.
More examples
- 'I had already eaten' is an example of the past perfect.
- 'She hadn't seen him' is an example of the past perfect.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Linguistics: verb forms, tenses & types of verbs
- accusative
- arose
- art
- aspect
- began
- bent
- ditransitive
- linking verb
- main verb
- passivize
- past participle
- predicate
- progressive
- the future perfect
- the past continuous
- the pluperfect
- the present simple
- the third person
- transitive
- wast
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