THE VALUES OF THE

PAST PERFECT TENSE

EXAMPLES

He knew he had been there for more than two weeks

and he felt tired.
we
tia c era acolo de mai bine de dou sptmni i se simea obosit.
He realized he had been waiting for three months and still hadnt received an
answer.
i-a dat seama c atepta de trei luni i tot nu primise un rspuns.
She knew he had been very upset with her ever since she had refused to marry
Jim.
tia c era foarte suprat pe ea de cnd refuzase s se cstoreasc cu Jim.
He admitted that he had been behaving unreasonably lately.
lately
A recunoscut c se comporta foarte nerezonabil n ultima vreme.
He realized that he hadnt met her yet.
yet
i-a dat seama c n-o ntlnise nc.
He was aware that he had last been paid six months before.
Era contient c ultima dat cnd fusese pltit fusese cu ase luni n urm.
He had thought his friend had died in 1990,
1990 but in fact he had died much later.
Crezuse c prietenul lui murise n 1990, dar de fapt acesta murise mult mai trziu.
The previous night, a wolf had broken in the pen and had killed a sheep, which
meant that he had to repair the fence of the pen.
Noaptea trecut ptrunsese un lup n arc i omorse o oaie, ceea ce nsemna c
acum trebuia s repare gardul arcului.
He had often visited her and she knew she could depend on him.
O vizitase adesea, iar ea tia c se putea baza pe el.
He hadnt always been such a brute, she thought.

Nu fusese ntotdeauna o brut, se gndea ea.

GENERALIZATION
PAST PERFECT CAN
SUCCESSFULLY COMBINE
WITH ANY CLASS OF TIME
ADVERBIALS [+THEN/THEN]

IS PAST PERFECT ONLY THE PAST

COUNTERPART OF PRESENT
PERFECT
?
Direct Speech: I have been very happy
here. / Indirect Speech:
Speech He said he had
been very happy there.
Direct Speech: He has been sleeping for
two hours. / Indirect Speech: Jim said that
his friend had been sleeping for two hours.
Direct Speech: John married Susan last
year. / Indirect Speech: He said that John
had married Susan the previous year.
Direct Speech: He visited us on Monday. /
Indirect Speech:
Speech Jim said that John had
visited them on Monday.

Lets generalize!
Past Perfect makes a connection with then
and is a past counterpart of Present Perfect.
It also indicates anteriority to then and is
therefore a past before past, expressing
events prior to other past events.

Jim realized he had hated his wife for many years.

Jim i-a dat seama c n-o mai suporta pe nevastsa de muli ani de zile.
Jim realized that he had met his wife twenty years
before.
Jim i-a dat seama c o ntlnise pe nevast-sa cu
douzeci de ani n urm.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Consider the following pairs of sentences and comment
on their point of reference and on the tense forms
employed:

Ive never been happier in my life!

He realized he had never been happier in
his life.
Jim had been happily married for at least
ten years.
Jim has been happily married for at least
ten years.

PAST PERFECT IN
... I picked upNARRATION
a bit of naan bread and mopped

up my curry sauce. The naan bread was big;

wed both stuffed ourselves with it during the
meal but it was still big. When it had arrived it
had needed a separate table just to
accommodate it; luckily the restaurant wasnt
busy. Not so much a naan bread, more a
toasted duvet, Id said. Ash had laughed.
During the course of the meal wed reduced the
blighter to the proportion of a couple of pillows,
not to mention disposing of portions of chicken
kalija and fish pakora to start, followed by garlic
chicken [...]. Two dry sherries and a couple of
bottles of Nuit St George had washed it all
down and now we were onto the coffee and

PAST PERFECT IN
Elsie thought NARRATION
of her own mother. She had
worked. She had been good at her craft and
the air of the kilns had made her ill. She had
tried to make a home for them. They had had
a geranium in a pot on a window sill. They had
had a Minton plate [...] hung on a nail on the
wall. They all knew what these things meant.
They meant they were respectable. Just
respectable. She tried to think she wouldnt so
much mind being trapped in a gilded cage of a
comfortable Home she had done a fair
amount of substitute Home-making at
Purchase House, not so much out of a desire
for homeliness as out of a powerful dislike for
mess, and shoddiness, and discomfort, which
was unshared by the Purchase women. (A.S.

MAIN FUNCTIONS OF PAST

PERFECT
Past Perfect may Past Perfect may
Past Perfect may
express an event
that is directly
connected with
or has an effect
on the
subsequent
moment (i.e. a
past point of
reference, then)
it is the past
counterpart of
Present Perfect

express an event
that is anterior to
the subsequent
moment (i.e. a past
point of reference,
then) and that does
not necessarily
have a direct effect
on the subsequent
moment it
behaves like a
past before a
past, a past
counterpart of the
Past Simple

[Mary understood
instantly]: someone
had stolen her purse!
(resultative meaning)
[She knew that]

Her father had died in Mary remembered

the war/two years
her days in prison.]
before, [or so Mary
She had entered
thought.]
prison as a young girl

and had left it as a

describe a set or
a sequence of
events that
happened before
a past point of
reference (a
story within a
story)

CAN PAST PERFECT BE

REPLACED BY PAST SIMPLE?

Mary remembered how Jim (had) behaved to her

parents on Thanksgiving. He (had) insulted her
mother and (had) angered her father. In his turn, Jim
knew he had been a horses ass.
Mary i amintea ce urt se purtase Jim cu prinii ei
de Thanksgiving. O insultase pe maic-sa i l
suprase pe taic-su. La rndul lui, Jim tia c
fusese mgar.
Mary remembered how Jim (had) behaved to her
parents on Thanksgiving. He (had) insulted her
mother and (had) angered her father. In his turn, Jim
knew he was a horses ass.
Mary i amintea ce urt se purtase Jim cu prinii ei
de Thanksgiving. O insultase pe maic-sa i l
suprase pe taic-su. La rndul lui, Jim tia c era

Lets generalize!
Optionality: Past Perfect forms can be replaced by
Past Simple ones if the context clearly indicates
the order of the events expressed by the verbs.
The shifted verbs need to be dynamic, otherwise
their interpretation might be ambiguous between
anteriority and simultaneity.

Mary thought about last nights events and

decided she left the party too late.
Mary thought about last nights events and
decided she had left the party too late.

Mary realized she was sick.

Mary realized she had been sick.

PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS

EXAMPLES
Jim thought that] aliens had visited his planet.
Jim era convins c extrateretrii ne vizitaser
planeta.
[Jim thought that] aliens had been visiting his
planet.
Jim era convins c extrateretrii ne vizitau constant
planeta.
[Susan knew] Jim had drunk the gin in the cupboard.
Susan tia c Jim buse ginul din dulap.
[Susan knew] Jim had been drinking gin from the
cupboard.
Susan tia c Jin (tot) bea din ginul din dulap.

Lets generalize
The Continuous (/progressive) aspect
forces a mainly continuative reading
upon the perfect sentence.
He had written a novel.
He had been writing a novel.

She had read the Harry Potter books.

Shed been reading the Harry Potter
books.

TIPS FOR TRANSLATION

The Present or Past Perfect are not translated in
the same manner as the Present or Past Perfect
Continuous!

Compare the translation of the following sentences and

remember that the Continuous form is normally
translated into Romanian by a Prezent form (or by an
Imperfect form for the Past Perfect Continuous):

He has sung the same song. / He has been singing the
same song for an hour.
A cntat acelai cntec. / Cnt acelai cntec de o or.

She realized he had sung the same song./ She realized
he had been singing the same song for an hour.
i-a dat seama c el a cntat/cntase acelai cntec./ ia dat seama c el cnta acelai cntec de o or.

TIPS FOR TRANSLATION

Past Perfect Mai Mult ca Perfect, but: Mai Mult ca Perfect
= Past Perfect

The Romanian Mai Mult ca Perfect is a tense devoid of much

ambiguity. It normally expresses anteriority to a past point of
reference and it is therefore translatable by means of a Past Perfect
form:

Mama l cert pe Tom c nu trsese apa la closet i nici nu ridicase
colacul.
Mother scolded Tom because he hadnt flushed the toilet or raised
the toilet seat.

There is no one-to-one correspondence between Past
Perfect and Mai Mult ca Perfect, however. Consider the
following sentences and their translation:

Jim told Susan he had never loved another woman.
Jim i spuse lui Susan c nu mai iubise niciodat alt femeie.
Jim i-a spus lui Susan c nu a mai iubit niciodat alt femeie.

TIPS FOR TRANSLATION

Past Perfect Mai Mult ca Perfect,
but: Mai Mult ca Perfect = Past Perfect

Jim realized he had been staring blankly for

hours.
Jim i ddu seama c se uita/se uit de ore
ntregi n gol.

He knew that by the time she had arrived
he would have left for the airport.
tia c pn s soseasc ea/s fi sosit ea/va
fi sosit ea, el va fi plecat/o s plece la
aeroport.

MEANS OF EXPRESSING
FUTURITY
Ill pack my suitcase tomorrow.

Im going to pack my suitcase tomorrow.

Im packing my suitcase tomorrow.
Please, dont forget to give me my umbrella when I pack
my suitcase.
If you want to say goodbye, come and see me in my room.
Ill be packing my suitcase.
Tell me what you want. I am about to pack my suitcase.
My master has ordered me to leave. I am to pack my
suitcase after I serve his morning tea.
Ill have packed my suitcase by the time the train
enters the station.
Ill come to say goodbye after I have packed my
suitcase.
I told him I would pack my suitcase the following day.
I told him I was going to pack my suitcase the following
day.

EXPRESSING THE FUTURE

1. PRESENT
TENSES
and
PAST
TENSES

Present Simple
The boat sails
tomorrow
at
noon.

Present
Continuous
Paul is giving
a speech next
week.
Past Simple
Past
They told me Continuous
the boat sailed They told me
tomorrow
at that Paul was
noon.
giving
a
speech next
week.

EXPRESSING THE FUTURE

2. WILL +
verb
(=Present
Form)
and

WOULD
+ verb
(=Past
Form)

WILL + infinitive
WOULD + infinitive
WILL+infinitive
THE FUTURE SIMPLE
He will talk to her on Monday.
Va vorbi cu ea luni.

WILL+have + V-en
WOULD+have+ V-en
WILL+have + V-en
THE FUTURE PERFECT
He will have already talked to
Sue by the time Tim gets
back.
Va fi vorbit deja cu ea cnd
Tim se va ntoarce.
WOULD + infinitive
WOULD+have+ V-en
THE FUTURE IN THE PAST
THE FUTURE PERFECT IN THE
They told me he would talk to PAST
her on Monday.
They told me that he would
Mi-a spus c va vorbi cu ea have already talked to her by
luni.
the time Tim got back.
Mi-au zis ca va fi vorbit deja
cu ea cnd Tim se va ntoarce.
WILL+ be+V-ing
WILL+have+be-en+V-ing
WOULD+be +V-ing
WOULD+have+be-en+V-ing
WILL+ be+V-ing
WILL+have+be-en+V-ing
THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS
THE
FUTURE
PERFECT
This time tomorrow, Ill be CONTINUOUS

EXPRESSING THE FUTURE

THE
PHRASE AM/IS/ARE GOING TO

3.
BE GOING TO
(Present Form
And
Past Form)

4. OTHER PHRASES:
BE TO, BE BOUND TO
(Present Forms
and
Past Forms)

WAS/WERE GOING TO
AM/IS/ARE GOING TO
Sue is going to have a baby.
Sue o s aib un copil.
WAS/WERE GOING TO
They told him Sue was going to have a
baby.
I-au spus c Sue o s aib un copil.
AM/IS/ARE TO
WAS/WERE
TO
AM/IS/ARE TO
He is to give
a
recital
tomorrow.

AM/IS/ARE BOUND TO
WAS/WERE BOUND TO
AM/IS/ARE BOUND TO
My parents are bound to
arrive on Friday.
Prinii mei trebuie s

NOTA BENE!
THESE WAYS OF EXPRESSING THE
FUTURE DO NOT ALL HAVE THE
SAME MEANING. THERE ARE MORE
SIGNIFICANT OR SLIGHTER
DIFFERENCES IN MEANING AMONG
THE VARIOUS FORMS ABOVE.

EXPRESSING THE FUTURE IN

CERTAIN SUBORDINATE
CLAUSES

I will talk to him tomorrow.

Voi vorbi cu el mine.

Ill tell you whats going on, after I talk to

his sister.
i voi spune ce se ntmpl, dup ce voi
vorbi cu sora lui.
Ill tell you whats going on if I talk to his
sister.

Lets generalize
The use of WILL/WOULD is forbidden in
temporal clauses that we call WHENclauses and conditional clauses that we
call IF-clauses.
Because the future auxiliary is forbidden,
all the WILL/WOULD forms will be
turned into equivalent forms without
the mark of the future, so that all
simple forms stay simple, all perfect forms
stay perfect, all that is continuous stays
continuous, all that is past stays past (see
the table above).

Present Simple versus Present

Continuous
My train leaves tomorrow at five.
Trenul meu pleac mine la cinci.

??? My train is leaving tomorrow.

Are you coming home tomorrow?

Vii acas mine?
Yes, my plane gets here at seven.
Da, avionul ajunge aici la apte.

My train leaves tomorrow at five. (IN THE FUTURE)

? My train leaves. (INCOMPLETE SENTENCE)

Present Simple versus Present

Continuous

Hes walking his neighbours dog tomorrow. (IN

THE FUTURE)
O s plimbe cinele vecinului mine.
b. Hes walking his neighbours dog. (RIGHT
NOW)
i plimb cinele vecinului.

Lets generalize!
When one wants to express a
schedule or an arrangement that
depends upon exterior factors (a
planes departure, an itinerary), one
uses the Present Simple Tense.
However, when one describes a
personal arrangement,
something that depends only upon
the plans of a person, one uses
the Present Continuous tense.

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

versus THE BE GOING TO
FUTURE
a. Bill is taking his
son on a fishing trip tomorrow.

He has arranged to do so.

Bill i ia fiul cu el la pescuit mine. A plnuit asta
deja.
b. Bill is going to take his son on a fishing trip
(tomorrow). He intends to do so.
Bill o s-i ia fiul cu el la pescuit mine. Asta e
intenia lui.

a. There are clouds in the sky. Its going to rain!

Sunt nori pe cer. O s plou.
b. ???There are clouds in the sky. Its raining
tomorrow.

BE GOING TO and THE

WILL/SHALL FUTURE

a. He will/Hell take his son on a fishing trip.

O s-i ia fiul la pescuit.
b. I shall/I will/ Ill take my son on a fishing trip.
O s-mi iau fiul la pescuit.

a. Ill stay in my room and write my essay.

b. Im going to stay in my room and write my essay.
O s stau n camera mea s-mi scriu compunerea.

a. The queen will visit Romania next week.

b. The queen is going to visit Romania next week.
Regina va vizita Romnia sptmna viitoare.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

a. I think it is going to rain

Cred c o s plou.
b. It will rain tomorrow in the South.
Cred c va ploua mine n sud.

The phone is ringing. Ill answer it.

Sun telefonul. O s rspund.
b. Im going to answer that letter, even if its
going to take an entire night to compose an
answer.
O s trimit un rspuns scrisorii aceleia, chiar
dac o s stau toat noaptea s-l scriu.

BE GOING TO and THE

WILL/SHALL FUTURE
Differences:
1. Register Colloquiality
2. Present/versus/Future
orientation
3. WILL is more bound to be
associated with prediction
tinges of meaning:

Lets generalize!
The Present Continuous is used to
express future arrangements. The
Be Going To Future is used to
express the fulfilment in the future
of an intention in the present or of a
present cause. It is a more colloquial
form than the WILL-future. The WILL
future is used to express
(spontaneous) decisions, intentions
or predictions and can be used most of
the times interchangeably with the Be
Going To Future.

THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS

1. a situation in progress at a particular moment in the

future

What will you be doing tomorrow at five?

I guess Ill be driving to the airport to meet my friends.
Ce faci mine la cinci?
Cred c o s conduc la aeroport s m ntlnesc cu prietenii.
2. a situation that will happen as part of the normal
course of events in a persons life:

Ill be teaching a lecture tomorrow. (TOMORROW IS MONDAY.

THIS IS WHAT I USUALLY DO ON MONDAYS.)
O s predau un curs mine.

Ill teach a lecture tomorrow. (THIS IS MY INTENTION. I DONT

USUALLY DO THAT ON MONDAYS)
O s predau un curs mine.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A butler asking his master:
Will you be taking the Jaguar or the
Rolls, sir?

A mother scolding her son:
If you keep drinking like that, youll
be drinking yourself to death one
of these days.

THE FUTURE PERFECT

By this time next week, Billy will have

completed his journey to Mexico.
Sptamna viitoare pe vremea asta, Billy
i va fi dus la capt cltoria n Mexic.

As you have seen, the Future
Perfect depends on a point in time
in the future. It is often used with a
temporal expression of the type BY
+ a point in time such as by this
time next week, by the time you
get back etc.