English Dialogue: Using Past Perfect Tense to Talk about Past Events

Setelah mempelajari bagaimana penggunaan dan perbedaan antara Simple Past dengan Past Perfect tense pada laman Contrasting Past Tenses: The Simple Past VS The Past Perfect Tense, sekarang mari kita pelajari penggunaan Past Perfect tense dalam dialog atau percakapan sehari-hari untuk membicarakan kegiatan atau kejadian lampau. Selamat berlatih, and good luck with your English.

Past Perfect Tense dalam Dialog

Aldo:	"I'm sorry you couldn't come to the play with me last night, Nina."
Nina:	"I'm sorry too, Aldo, but I'd already made other arrangements before you invited me."
Aldo:	"I know. But if you'd been able to come, you would have enjoyed it very much."
Nina:	"Was it a good play?"
Aldo:	"Yes, it was a good play, but there's another reason why you would have enjoyed yourself."
Nina:	"Why would I have enjoyed myself, then?"
Aldo:	"Because it was so funny?"
Nina:	"But it wasn't a comedy, was it? I thought that they'd decided to do a drama."
Aldo:	"That's right! They'd decided to do a serious drama, and they did a drama! But they hadn't prepared the play properly."
Nina:	"And so it became funny?"
Aldo:	"Yes! I laughed till I cried. Until I saw that play last night, I hadn't realized that a serious drama could be so amusing."
Nina:	"Oh, please tell me all about it, Aldo."
	"What happened?"
Aldo:	"At the beginning of the play, there was nobody on the stage. Then, one of the actors entered, and sit on a chair."
Nina:	"Oh please, Aldo. Don't laugh! Tell me what happened."
Aldo:	"Well, he'd just sat down when someone knocked at the door. He turned around suddenly - and the chair broke!"
Nina:	"Oh dear! And by that time he hadn't spoken a word, I suppose."
Aldo:	"No. Everybody laughed. The actor who was knocking at the door hadn't heard the crash, so he knocked again. The actor who had broken the chair called out: "Come in!" The first actor hadn't got up from the floor when the second one came in and started to laugh too!"
Nina:	"And then what happened?"
Aldo:	"When they removed the broken chair, the play really began."
Nina:	"But you said that the actors hadn't learnt the play properly. Tell me about that!"
Aldo:	"A little later, at one of the most interesting moments in the play, one of the actors forgot what to say next. He couldn't remember what to say, and nobody helped him."
Nina:	Oh, poor man! What did he do?"
Aldo:	"After he'd stood there for a few moments, he started to speak again, but they weren't the right words. Because he hadn't said the right words, the other actors didn't know what to say next."
Nina:	"And I suppose everyone laughed again!"
Aldo:	"Yes, and when they'd started to laugh, they couldn't stop laughing during the rest of the play. The actors made a lot more mistakes, and people laughed more and more. It was a wonderful play!"
Nina:	"Well, Aldo, I'm really sorry I'd made those other arrangements!"

Bagaimanakah bentuk Past Perfect Tense?

Bacalah lagi dialog di atas dengan memperhatikan kalimat-kalimat yang dicetak miring.

• ... I'd (I had) already made ....
• ... you'd (you had) been able to come, ....
• ... They'd (They had) decided to do ....
• ... they hadn't prepared the play ....
• ... I hadn't realized ....
• ... they hadn't chosen the furniture ....
• ... he'd just sat down ....
• ... by that time, he hadn't spoken a word, ....
• ... The actor who was knocking at the door hadn't heard the crash, ....
• ... The actor who had broken the chair ....
• ... The first actor hadn't got up ....
• ... the actors hadn't learnt the play ....
• ... After he'd stood there ....
• ... he hadn't said the right words ....
• ... when they'd started to laugh ....

Perhatikan bahwa kata kerja yang digunakan adalah bentuk had + perfect infinitive (had verb 3). Bentuk kata kerja inilah yang disebut Past Perfect tense. Perhatikan kalimat-kalimat berikut:

1. Affirmative: "I had/I'd studied."
2. Negative: "I had not/hadn't studied."
3. Interrogative: "Had I studied?"
4. Negative interrogative: "Had I not/hadn't I studied?"

Bagaimana dan kapan bentuk Past Perfect Tense digunakan?

1. Past perfect sebagai bentuk lampau dari present perfect. Contoh:
   
   Present perfect: "Ann has just left. If you hurry you'll catch her".
   Past: "When I arrived Ann had just left".
   Present: "I have lost my eraser. I have to borrow one from my friend."
   Past: "I had lost my eraser and had to borrow one from my friend."
2. Past perfect dengan "since/for/always", digunakan untuk kegiatan/kejadian yang baru saja selesai atau masih berlanjut sampai pada saat itu. Contoh:
   
   I met Lisa at the restaurant a few months ago. She had worked there as a waiter for a year/since she moved here. (Past perfect continuous "She had been working ...." juga bisa digunakan di situasi tersebut)
   Lisa had worked as a cashier in a shop for two years. Then, she decided to find another job. (Bentuk past perfect continuous "had been working" tidak bisa digunakan pada kalimat ini karena kondisi yang dimaksud sudah tidak berlangsung lagi)
3. Past perfect sebagai bentuk lampau yang ekuivalen/setara dengan simple past, digunakan untuk membicarakan suatu kondisi/kejadian yang lebih lampau lagi. Contoh:
   
   The boy had to work hard at an early age. His father had died years before and since then he had lived alone with his mother. His father had left him a small farm and had taught him how to be a farmer.
   I was late. When I arrived, she was a bit upset as she had waited for half an hour. (Past perfect continuous "she had been waiting" bisa dipakai dalam kalimat ini karena kejadian yang dimaksud masih berlangsung).

Catatan:

Dalam penggunaan yang ke-3, yaitu dalam hal menceritakan kejadian yang lebih lampau, pemakaian Past perfect tense tidak diperlukan jika kita bercerita secara berurutan sesuai dengan kronologi waktu kejadian, tanpa harus melompat lagi ke waktu yang lebih lampau. Dalam hal ini, bentuk waktu yang harus digunakan adalah Simple past tense. Contoh:

His father taught him how to be a farmer. When he was sixteen, his father died and left him a small farm. Then, he lived alone with his mother.

Untuk semakin memantapkan pemahaman tentang materi Past Perfect dan penggunaannya, silahkan kunjungi laman berikut ini:

Continue the Journey

📘 Contrasting the Simple Past VS the Past Perfect Tense 📘 Exercise: Past Perfect Tense VS Simple Past Tense 📘 Exercise: How to Use Past Perfect Tense with Simple Past Tense

Reference:

• Thomson & Martinet (1986). A Practical English Grammar (4th Ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Allen W. Stannard (1989). Living English Structure. Hong Kong: Longman.
• Radio Australia, English for You. Victoria: The Dominion Press.