Pour conjuguer un verbe au past perfect tense, on conjugue l’auxiliaire avoir « to have » au past simple « had » plus le past participle du verbe à conjuguer.
Les différentes formes : Exemple du verbe To break
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Forme affirmative
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Forme interrogative
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Forme négative
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NB :
L’on peut écrire had not ou hadn’t (forme contractée)
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I had broken
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Had I broken ?
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I had not broken
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You had broken
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Had you broken ?
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You had not broken
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He had broken
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Had he broken ?
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He had not broken
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She had broken
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Had she broken ?
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She had not broken
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It had broken
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Had it broken ?
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It had not broken
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We had broken
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Had we broken ?
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We had not broken
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You had broken
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Had you broken ?
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You had not broken
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They had broken
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Had they broken ?
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They had not broken
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NB :
- Il est important de noter que le past participle des verbes dépend de leur nature. S’il s’agit des verbes réguliers, leur past participle se forme avec un « ed » à la fin du verbe, mais s’il s’agit d’un verbe irrégulier, l’apprenant devra alors compter sur sa bonne maitrise des verbes irréguliers en anglais et leurs différentes formes pour conjuguer le verbe proposé.
- Généralement, dans une phrase, le past perfect est accompagné du past simple. Ce dernier peut être placé avant ou après lui.
La valeur d’emploi du past perfect tense
On emploie le past perfect tense pour :
- Parler d’un rapport entre un moment du passé et un moment encore plus loin dans le passé.
Ex: When my mother came back, she realized that she had forgotten her hat at her office.
(Lorsque ma mère est rentrée, elle a réalisé qu’elle avait oublié son chapeau dans son bureau)
- Le past perfect s’emploie avec l’indicateur first (second, third, fourth…nth) time. Mais cet ensemble de fois doit se situer dans le passé.
Ex: It was the first time we had met. (C’était la première fois que nous nous étions rencontrés.)
EXERCICE
Use past simple or past perfect tense to conjugate those following verbs.
- Yesterday, Sarah (to go)……………………………..to Yaoundé after work.
- She (to sit) ………………………………….down at a table outside and (to look)………………………………… at the menu.
- When the waiter (to come)………………………..to take her order, she (to be)………………………………surprised.
- It (to be)……………………………….Simon, an old friend from school.
- They (to see/not)………………………….each other for at least ten years.
- So they (to tell)………………………………each other what (to happen)………………………………….in the past ten years
- I …………..just…………….. (To finish) work when my friend arrived.
- After Anna ……………………… (To leave), Paul arrived.
- Because Martin………………………….. (To go), I decided to go too.
- When I ……………………(to finish) my work, I left.
