0

In the following examples:

  • When I was five years old I had a dog.

Is this a past perfect sentence? Here, I know that the 'dog' is not a verb and because we use third form of verb after 'had' so this got me confused.

  • I just had a meal.

Is this a simple past sentence? Here, 'meal' is also not a verb.

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    Have you read about Past Perfect, Simple Past, etc at all?
    – Noah
    Commented Jun 9, 2012 at 8:09
  • 1
    Yes, but not all books explain it very well. I was just confused about the grammar.
    – user963241
    Commented Jun 9, 2012 at 8:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

Both of these sentences are in the simple past. The past perfect, also known as the pluperfect, is formed when the verb takes on the form "had [verb]", but in your examples, had is not acting as an auxiliary verb but rather as a normal verb, since it is not followed by another verb. Since had is not an auxiliary verb here, it is the simple past form of has (to have).

Improve this answer
3
  • As an example; I told him that when I was five, I had had a dog.
    – Tim Lymington
    Commented Jun 9, 2012 at 12:20
  • What about the sentence: "I had to go" Here, go is a verb but it's not in the third form. is it correct?
    – user963241
    Commented Jun 9, 2012 at 17:41
  • @user963241- This is also simple past. Had is the main verb, which is followed by the infinitive to go.
    – Noah
    Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 12:15

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .