DEFINITIONS

past perfect

noun Grammar.

pluperfect.

Content related to past perfect

Verb Tenses: Past, Future, And Even PerfectThe six basic verb tenses are past, present, future, past perfect, present perfect, and future perfect. Verb tenses identify the time period when an action occurs. They also show relationships between events that happen at different times. The simple tenses (past, present, and future) are the most basic forms. Simple Tenses Present tense describes events happening now. It’s also useful for describing a direct action …
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Present, Past, And Sometimes Perfect ParticiplesParticiples are words derived from verbs that can function as adjectives or as parts of verb phrases to create verb tenses. The two main types of participles are the present participle and the past participle. The perfect participle depends on the past participle for its forms. Participial phrases function as adjectives that modify the subjects or other nouns in sentences. The Present Participle Adding -ing …
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Words nearby past perfect

past life therapy, past master, past mistress, past one's prime, past participle, past perfect, past progressive, pasta, paste, paste mold, paste-on

Origin of past perfect

First recorded in 1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for past perfect

  • She is just past-perfect as a chaperone and she said that she thought a party of four girls would be ideal.

    Meg of Mystery Mountain|Grace May North

British Dictionary definitions for past perfect

past perfect
/ grammar /

adjective

denoting a tense of verbs used in relating past events where the action had already occurred at the time of the action of a main verb that is itself in a past tense. In English this is a compound tense formed with had plus the past participle

noun

  1. the past perfect tense
  2. a verb in this tense
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012