Definition
Past perfect tense is an absolute-relative tense that refers to a time in the past relative to a reference point, which itself is in the past relative to the moment of utterance.
Examples
(English)
The “had + verb” construction expresses past perfect tense, as in the following sentence:
The construction had left is in the past relative to that time, which itself is in the past relative to the moment of utterance
Sources 3
- Pei and Gaynor 1954, 162, 170
- Mish 1991, 861
- Comrie 1976b, 65–66