El pasado perfecto en inglés puede parecer complicado al principio, pero en realidad es una de las claves para expresar ideas con claridad y precisión.
Este tiempo verbal nos permite hablar de acciones que ocurrieron antes de otro momento en el pasado, lo cual es esencial para contar historias o describir experiencias.
En este artículo, aprenderás qué es el pasado perfecto y cómo se forma, además de ejemplos prácticos del pasado perfecto que te ayudarán a dominarlo paso a paso.
¿Cuál es el pasado perfecto en inglés?
El pasado perfecto (past perfect tense) en inglés se utiliza para hablar de una acción que ocurrió antes de otra acción en el pasado.
Es muy útil para dar contexto, mostrar secuencia de eventos y evitar confusión en las líneas de tiempo.
En español suele traducirse con el pretérito pluscuamperfecto (“había hecho”, “había ido”).
Ejemplos:
- She had finished her homework before dinner.
- They had left when we arrived.
- I had never seen such a beautiful sunset before.
- He had studied English before moving to London.
- We had already eaten when she called us.
Cómo se forma el pasado perfecto en inglés
La estructura del pasado perfecto es muy sencilla: Sujeto + had + participio pasado del verbo (past participle)
Se usa “had” con todos los sujetos (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).
El verbo principal siempre va en participio pasado, igual que en el presente perfecto.
Ejemplos:
- I had visited Paris before my 20th birthday.
- She had cooked dinner when we arrived.
- We had met him once before the party.
- They had lived in Madrid for two years before moving.
- He had written three books before 2010.
Negaciones en pasado perfecto
Para hacer oraciones negativas en pasado perfecto, simplemente se coloca “not” después de “had”: Sujeto + had not (hadn’t) + participio pasado.
Ejemplos:
- I had not (hadn’t) finished my project before the deadline.
- She hadn’t eaten breakfast when I saw her.
- They had not met him before the trip.
- We hadn’t thought about that possibility.
- He had not prepared his presentation.
Preguntas en pasado perfecto
Para hacer preguntas en pasado perfecto, se invierte el orden: Had + sujeto + participio pasado + complemento?
Ejemplos:
- Had you studied English before moving to Canada?
- Had she finished her assignment before the teacher asked?
- Had they seen the movie before going to the cinema?
- Had we met somewhere before that party?
- Had he worked in that company before 2015?
Ejemplos prácticos de oraciones en pasado perfecto
Aquí hay una lista de tiempos pasados perfectos en la conversación cotidiana.
Afirmativa | Negativa | Interrogativa |
| I had visited London twice before 2017. | I had not visited London twice before 2017. | Had I visited London twice before 2017? |
| My mom had cooked dinner when we arrived. | My mom had not cooked dinner when we arrived | Had my mom cooked dinner when we arrived? |
| They had arrived when the party started. | They had not arrived when the party started. | Had they arrived when the party started? |
| We had seen that movie before. | We had not seen that movie before. | Had we seen that movie before? |
| The students had prepared for the exam. | The students had not prepared for the exam. | Had the students prepared for the exam? |
| The train had left before we got to the station. | The train had not left before we got to the station. | Had the train left before we got to the station? |
| I had met him before the conference. | I had not met him before the conference. | Had I met him before the conference? |
| He had worked in another country before. | He had not worked in another country before. | Had he worked in another country before? |
| He had told me the truth. | He had not told me the truth. | Had he told me the truth? |
| We had spoken about this yesterday. | We had not spoken about this yesterday. | Had we spoken about this yesterday? |
Conclusión
Dominar el pasado perfecto es un gran paso hacia una comunicación más natural y fluida en inglés.
Ahora intenta escribir tus propias oraciones y utilizarlas en conversaciones cotidianas para reforzar lo que has aprendido.
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