(the) past perfect tense

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• (the) future perfect tense — the ˌfuture ˈperfect 7 [future perfect] (also the ˌfuture ˌperfect ˈtense) noun singular …   Useful english dictionary

• (the) past perfect — the past perfect UK US noun linguistics a verb tense formed with ‘had’ and a past participle. It is used to express an action that was completed before a particular time in the past, for example ‘had finished’ in the sentence ‘She offered to help …   Useful english dictionary

• past perfect tense — noun a perfective tense used to express action completed in the past I had finished is an example of the past perfect • Syn: ↑past perfect, ↑pluperfect, ↑pluperfect tense • Hypernyms: ↑perfective, ↑perfective tense, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

• the past perfect — UK / US noun linguistics a verb tense formed with had and a past participle. It is used to express an action that was completed before a particular time in the past, for example had finished in the sentence She offered to help but I had already… …   English dictionary

• past perfect — past′ per′fect adj. 1) gram. pertaining to or being a verb tense or form indicating that the action or state expressed by the verb was completed prior to a point of reference in the past or that it extended up to or had results continuing up to… …   From formal English to slang

• The Past — ◊ GRAMMAR For the formation of past tenses, see entry at ↑ Tenses. ◊ talking about the past The simple past tense is used to refer to an event in the past. She opened the door. One other factor influenced him. In or …   Useful english dictionary

• the past — ◊ GRAMMAR For the formation of past tenses, see entry at ↑ Tenses. ◊ talking about the past The simple past tense is used to refer to an event in the past. She opened the door. One other factor influenced him. In or …   Useful english dictionary

• past perfect — noun a perfective tense used to express action completed in the past I had finished is an example of the past perfect • Syn: ↑past perfect tense, ↑pluperfect, ↑pluperfect tense • Hypernyms: ↑perfective, ↑perfective tense, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

• the perfect tense — UK / US noun linguistics the form of a verb that is used for talking about an action that has been completed before the present time. In the sentence Sharon has gone home , has gone is the perfect tense of go . See: the future perfect, the past… …   English dictionary

• past imperfect tense — noun A grammatical tense which expresses the past as an action which was still going on at the point in time described, say someone was ...ing something, as opposed to the already accomplished counterpart past perfect tense (where the action took …   Wiktionary