El Pasado Perfecto en Inglés (Past Perfect)

¿Cómo se forma el Pasado Perfecto en inglés?

(I had played)

– Explicación simple con ejemplos y ejercicios –

 

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El pasado perfecto (a veces llamado pluperfect) se utiliza cuando queremos hablar de dos acontecimientos pasados sucesivos, es decir, hablar de una acción que tuvo lugar antes de otra acción pasada.

Para la traducción al español, podemos decir que es el equivalente del pretérito pluscuamperfecto («Ella había estudiado…» «Él ya se había ido…» ).

1/ Estructura

sujeto + had (have al past simple) + participio pasado (worked, been, gone…)

Afirmativo Negativo Pregunta
 I / you / we / they    I had played  I had not (hadn’t) played  Had I played ?_
 he / she / it   He had played_  He had not (hadn’t) played_  Had he played ?_

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  • (+) She had studied Japanese before she moved to Tokyo.
  • (?) Had she studied Japanese before she moved to Tokyo ?
  • (-) She had not studied Japanese before she moved to Tokyo.

2/ Uso

* Cuando dos acciones tuvieron lugar en momentos diferentes en el pasado

Usamos el past perfect para hablar de la acción que ocurre primero, y el past simple (= pretérito) para el segundo.

  • The bus had already left when Tom arrived at the bus stop.
  • We watched a horror movie after the kids had gone to bed.
  • By the time Tina finished shopping, John had been at the bar for one hour.
  • had never eaten such a good sushi before I went to Japan.
  • I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.
  • Barbara knew Sydney well because she had visited the city many times.
  • Had Tom studied english before he moved to the USA ?
  • He was not able to get a ticket for the show because he hadn’t booked in advance.
  • She checked with the post office and they still hadn’t received her package.
  • I had eaten dinner before they arrived.

* Para expresar un pasado hipotético, con if (para hablar de cosas que podrían haber ocurrido)

  • If John had been able to drive a car, he would have gone home earlier.
  • If I hadn’t drunk so much coffee, I would have slept last night.

* Para expresar arrepentimiento (con ‘wish’ o ‘If only’)

  • If only I had invited her to the cinema.
  • If I had known, I wouldn’t have come.
  • I wish he hadn’t failed his driving exam.
  • He wishes he hadn’t bought that car.
  • She wishes she had stayed in Miami longer.
  • I wish I had done scuba diving when I went to Indonesia.

Para el estilo indirecto, cuando se quiere contar lo que alguien dijo, pensó o creyó (a menudo con los verbos said, told, thought, explained, asked, wondered, believed…) 

  • ‘I have seen…  ‘ →    He said he had seen…
  • ‘I lost my wallet’ →    She said she had lost her wallet.
  • She told us that the bus had left.
  • I thought we had already decided to go to Paris this summer.
  • He explained that he had locked the window because of the thieves.
  • I wondered if she had seen this movie before.
  • I asked him why he had bought this house.
  • They told me they had already paid the bill.

3/ Notas

⚠️ Past perfect + just

Usamos el past perfect con «just» para decir que algo acaba de suceder recientemente:

  • The train had just left when we arrived at the station.
  • She had just left the room when she heard a noise.
  • He had just washed the car when it started to rain.

⚠️ Con ‘when’:

  • When you were born, the internet hadn’t already been created.
  • When I finished high school, I hadn’t learnt to drive a car yet.
  • When I went to the bar, they had already been drinking a lot.

⚠️ Con ‘before’ / ‘after’:

Si la acción en el past perfect ocurrió en un momento específico y se usa «before» o «after» en la oración, puede ser reemplazado por el past simple.

  • He had visited Melbourne once in 2011 before he moved there in 2013. 
  • = He visited Melbourne once in 2011 before he moved there in 2013.

PERO si el past perfect no corresponde a una acción tomada en un momento específico, no podemos usar el past simple:

  • He never saw a kangaroo before he moved to Australia. ❌
  • He had never seen a kangaroo before he moved to Australia. ✔️

⚠️ Had + had

  • We had had that car for two years before it broke down.
  • I wish I had had more girlfriends when I was young.

⚠️ La voz activa/pasiva:

  • Nathan had created many websites before he started his business. (Activa)
  • Many websites had been created by Nathan before he started his business. (Pasiva)

⚠️ Algunas palabras de uso frecuente con el past perfect:

already, just, before, when, by the time, once, twice, three times…

 

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