Le past perfect (parfois appelé pluperfect) est utilisé lorsque l’on veut parler de deux événements passés successifs, c’est-à-dire pour parler d’une action qui s’est déroulée avant une autre action passée.

Pour la traduction en français, en peut dire que c’est l’équivalent du plus que parfait (ex: ‘Elle avait étudié…’ ‘Il était déjà parti…’ ).

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1/ Formation

sujet + had (have au past simple) + participe passé (worked, been, gone…)

	Affirmative	Négative	Question
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 ?

_

• (+) 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/ Utilisation

* Lorsque deux actions ont eu lieu à des moments différents dans le passé

On emploie le past perfect pour parler de l’action qui se passe en premier, et le past simple (= preterit) pour la deuxième.

• 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.
• I 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.

* Pour exprimer un passé hypothétique, avec if (pour parler de choses qui auraient pu arriver)

• 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.

* Pour exprimer le regret (avec ‘wish’ ou ‘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.

* Pour le discours indirect, quand on veut raconter ce que quelqu’un a dit, pensé ou cru (souvent avec les verbes 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.

 Avec ‘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.

 Avec ‘before’ / ‘after’:

Si l’action au past perfect s’est passée à un moment spécifique et que ‘before‘ ou ‘after‘ sont utilisés dans la phrase, on peut le remplacer par le 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.

MAIS si le past perfect ne correspond pas à une action passée à un moment spécifique, on ne peut pas utiliser le 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 voix active / passive:

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

 Quelques mots utilisés souvent avec le past perfect:

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