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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

What is the past perfect?

My teacher told me that the past perfect talks about a past action.that happened and finished before another past action. I've also heard people use that explannation on this forum, but here it doesn't talk about a finished action:

When I arrived, she had been there for three hours.

Could someone please give a clear defintition of the past perfect?
  

Top answer

The general definition still obtains, Anon. The previous past 'action' needn't have finished-- it merely has to endure as a condition. When I arrived, she had already peeled 17 oranges.

— Mister Micawber

  • The general definition still obtains, Anon.
  • The previous past 'action' needn't have finished-- it merely has to endure as a condition.
  • When I arrived, she had already peeled 17 oranges.
  • When I arrived, she hadn't yet peeled the other 383.
  • When I arrived, she had only knitted one third of the sweater.
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4 Answers
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The general definition still obtains, Anon. The previous past 'action' needn't have finished-- it merely has to endure as a condition.

When I arrived, she had already peeled 17 oranges.
When I arrived, she hadn't yet peeled the other 383.
When I arrived, she had only knitted one third of the sweater.
When I arrived, she had not yet seen the illustrations.
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Sometimes you have to interpret these liberally.
It doesn't have to be an action that has finished.
It can be any kind of situation.

In this case all three hours had passed. The passing of those three hours had finished. You can rephrase as:

When I arrived three hours had already passed.
or
When I arrived she had already finished being there for thr
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Mister MicawberThe general definition still obtains, Anon. The previous past 'action' needn't have finished-- it merely has to endure as a condition.

When I arrived, she had already peeled 17 oranges.
When I arrived, she hadn't yet peeled the other 383.
When I arrived, she had only knitted one third of the sweater.
When I arrived, she had not yet
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CalifJimSometimes you have to interpret these liberally.
It doesn't have to be an action that has finished.
It can be any kind of situation.

In this case all three hours had passed. The passing of those three hours had finished. You can rephrase as:

When I arrived three hours had already passed.
or
When I arrived she had already finishe
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