Past perfect simple: Erklärung, Bildung und Übung
In diesem Abschnitt geht es um die Verwendung des past perfect simple und die Bildung von Aussagen, Fragen und Verneinungen. Das past perfect simple entspricht dem deutschen Plusquamperfekt. Es wird in ähnlicher Weise gebildet, verwendet und kann auch damit übersetzt werden.
Vertiefung
Englische Version:
The past perfect is a form that teachers often pay particular attention to when they correct a piece of writing, so do check out the section where I explain how you actually use the past perfect after you've worked through the forms. But first, have a look at the following examples:
- A year before his death, Charles had written to Lord Mountbatten, once again thanking him for his help.
- By the time she had dealt with it she had recovered her usual self-possession.
- Within a few years they had realised their dreams.
Formation
Statements
The form you see here consists of only one auxiliary and the main verb. The auxiliary is always had and the verb is always the third form (i.e. past participle). So your formula for past perfect simple is rather short and pithy, had + third form of the verb:
| subject | had | third form | (rest) |
| Charles | had | written | to Lord Mountbatten. |
| She | had | dealt | with it. |
| They | had | realised | their dreams. |
Questions
To form questions, simply put had before the subject. Interrogatives (if there are any) take the front position:
| (interrogative) | had | subject | third form | (rest) |
| Had | Charles | written | to Lord Mountbatten? | |
| Had | she | dealt | with it? | |
| What | had | they | realised? |
Negatives
Use not after had to negate sentences.
| subject | had | not | third form | (rest) |
| Charles | had | not | written | to Lady Mountbatten. |
| She | had | not | dealt | with it properly. |
| They | had | not | abandoned | their dreams. |
Use
The past perfect simple is mainly used to indicate which of two events in the past happened first:
Beispiel
The patient died. The doctor arrived. (Two events in the past and no order is indicated.)
The patient died when the doctor arrived. (Two events in the past happened (almost) simultaneously.)
The patient had died when the doctor arrived. (First: patient dies; Second: Doctor arrives)
The patient died when the doctor had arrived. (First: Doctor arrives; Second: patient dies)
Prepositions are a good way to emphasise the order of events:
Beispiel
The patient had died before the doctor arrived.
The patient died after the doctor had arrived.
Bildung (Formation)
Viele Lehrer achten bei Schülertexten besonders auf diese Zeitform. Deshalb solltest du dir den Abschnitt zur Verwendung besonders gut ansehen. Zuerst gibt es aber eine Übersicht zur Bildung das past perfect simple.
Beispiel
By the time she had dealt with it she had recovered her usual self-possession.
Within a few years they had realised his dreams.
Aussagen
Zur Bildung des past perfect simple benötigst du nur das auxiliary had und die dritte Form des Verb (past participle):
| Subjekt | had | dritte Form | (Rest) |
| Charles | had | written | to Lord Mountbatten. |
| She | had | dealt | with it. |
| They | had | realised | their dreams. |
Fragen
Ziehe einfach das auxiliary had vor das Subjekt. Wenn es ein Fragewort gibt, gehört es an den Satzanfang:
| (Fragewort) | had | Subjekt | dritte Form | (Rest) |
| Had | Charles | written | to Lord Mountbatten? | |
| Had | she | dealt | with it? | |
| What | had | they | realised? |
Verneinungen
Füge not nach had ein:
| Subjekt | had | not | dritte Form | (Rest) |
| Charles | had | not | written | to Lady Mountbatten. |
| She | had | not | dealt | with it properly. |
| Raffles | had | not | abandoned | his dreams. |
Verwendung (Use)
Das past perfect simple wird hauptsächlich verwendet um zu zeigen, welches Ereignis in der Vergangenheit zuerst geschah:
Beispiel
The patient died. The doctor arrived. (Zwei Ereignisse in der Vergangenheit in unklarer Reihenfolge.)
The patient died when the doctor arrived. (Zwei Ereignisse in der Vergangenheit passierten (nahezu) gleichzeitig.)
The patient had died when the doctor arrived. (Als der Arzt ankam, war der Patient bereits verstorben.)
The patient died when the doctor had arrived. (Erst nachdem der Arzt angekommen war, starb der Patient.)
Die Reihenfolge lässt sich zusätzlich mit Präpositionen herausstellen:
Beispiel
The patient had died before the doctor arrived.
The patient died after the doctor had arrived.
Das past perfect simple stellt außerdem die Vergangheit des present perfect simple dar. Diese Zeitform wurde zwar auch in der Kategorie der Vergangenheitsformen behandelt, sie kann aber auch als eine Form der Gegenwart betrachtet werden. Genau wie beim present perfect gibt es auch beim past perfect eine entsprechende continuous-Form, die genau gleich verwendet wird:
Beispiel
His teacher is very proud of him because he has understood all the tenses by now. (present perfect simple)
His teacher was very proud of him because he had understood all the tenses before the exam. (past perfect simple)
She is very tired because she has been working all day. (present perfect continuous)
She was very tired because she had been working all day. (past perfect continuous (siehe nächstes Kapitel))
Übersetzung
Natürlich ist es auch wichtig, zu wissen, wie man die Zeitform übersetzt. In den Beispielen oben hast du vielleicht erkannt, dass wir das present perfect jeweils mit dem Plusquamperfekt ins Deutsche übersetzt haben. Dies kannst du fast in allen Fällen tun, da die Zeiten nicht nur ähnlich gebildet, sondern auch gleich verwendet werden!
Du hast nun das past perfect simple besser kennengelernt. Ob du alles verstanden hast, kannst du einfach mit unseren Übungen testen. Viel Erfolg dabei!
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