The past perfect passive simple negative is a verb tense that is used to describe an action that happened before another action in the past. It is formed by using the auxiliary verb “had” with the past participle of the verb, and the negative word “not”.
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 17 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as:
PAST PERFECT passive SIMPLE negative form.
The formula for the past perfect passive simple negative is:
subject + had + ( not | n't ) + been + past participle
A search on iWeb corpus for had _xx been _vvn
gives us the most common past participles ranked in order: SEEN, MADE, GIVEN, USED, PAID, TOLD, and TAKEN. Because ‘seen’ is the most common lexical past participle, we do a search for possible adverbs in various middle positions with it and we believe using adverbs in this structure is so rare that it points to C1 ability at the very least:
had * not been seen
1 HAD PREVIOUSLY NOT BEEN SEEN 9
Peng Shuai had previously not been seen in public
since alleging that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli
coerced her into sex several years ago.
2 HAD REPORTEDLY NOT BEEN SEEN 6
3 HAD HE NOT BEEN SEEN 4 (‘he‘ is not an adverb, but shows how rare inversion is for a question or other grammar)
had _XX * been seen
1 HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN SEEN 26
2 HAD NOT YET BEEN SEEN 22
3 HADN’T REALLY BEEN SEEN 12
Reclusive Rob Kardashian hadn’t really been seen in a full length photo for months,
which is why fans really took notice
when he appeared in pictures at sister Khloe’s 36th birthday bash
literally looking like half the man he used to be.
4 HAD NOT EVEN BEEN SEEN 5
Ranked 9 is ‘HAD NOT BEEN INFORMED’
台北時報TOPICS:
1 DECISION 64
2 GOVERNMENT 35
3 ADVANCE 34
4 POLICE 29
5 CHANGE 24
6 FAMILY 24
7 INCIDENT 24
8 INVESTIGATION 20
9 CASE 19
10 HAD NOT BEEN UPDATED 368
11 HAD NOT BEEN COMPLETED 343
12 HAD NOT BEEN FOUND 332
13 HADN’T BEEN USED 322
14 HAD NOT BEEN CLEANED 315
15 HAD NOT BEEN RELEASED 308
16 HAD NOT BEEN BORN 306
17 HAD NOT BEEN ALLOWED 306
18 HADN’T BEEN INVENTED 299
19 HAD NOT BEEN INVENTED 245
20 HAD NOT BEEN MET 239
21 HAD NOT BEEN APPROVED 238
22 HAD NOT BEEN EXPOSED 235
23 HADN’T BEEN TOLD 235
24 HADN’T BEEN UPDATED 234
25 HAD NOT BEEN CHARGED 234
26 HAD NOT BEEN REPORTED 232
27 HAD NOT BEEN INCLUDED 232
28 HAD NOT BEEN CONSULTED 226
29 HAD NOT BEEN HEARD 223
30 HAD NOT BEEN ASKED 218
31 HAD NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED 216
32 HAD NOT BEEN TESTED 216
33 HAD NOT BEEN PROVIDED 213
34 HAD NOT BEEN NOTIFIED 209
35 HAD NOT BEEN TREATED 207
36 HADN’T BEEN GIVEN 206
37 HAD NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED 203
38 HAD NOT BEEN SENT 201
39 HAD NOT BEEN CHANGED 198
40 HAD NOT BEEN CONSIDERED 197
41 HAD NOT BEEN CONTACTED 194
42 HAD NOT BEEN TOUCHED 191
43 HAD NOT BEEN DISCOVERED 189
44 HAD NOT BEEN REMOVED 187
45 HAD NOT BEEN PUT 183
46 HADN’T BEEN CLEANED 181
47 HADN’T BEEN PAID 175
48 HAD NOT BEEN GRANTED 172
49 HAD NOT BEEN RECEIVED 172
50 HAD NOT BEEN INVITED 168
51 HAD NOT BEEN KILLED 166
52 HAD NOT BEEN SET 166
53 HAD NOT BEEN CARRIED 165
54 HADN’T BEEN MADE 165
55 HAD NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED 165
56 HAD NOT BEEN DETERMINED 162
57 HAD NOT BEEN PASSED 158
58 HADN’T BEEN TOUCHED 158
59 HAD NOT BEEN ENACTED 157
60 HAD NOT BEEN PREPARED 155
61 HAD NOT BEEN BROUGHT 154
62 HAD NOT BEEN CALLED 150
63 HAD NOT BEEN TRAINED 149
64 HAD NOT BEEN AFFECTED 145
65 HAD NOT BEEN CONFIRMED 145
66 HAD NOT BEEN BUILT 135
67 HAD NOT BEEN PUBLISHED 132
68 HAD NOT BEEN DEVELOPED 132
69 HAD NOT BEEN FOLLOWED 129
70 HAD NOT BEEN REACHED 128
71 HAD NOT BEEN IMPLEMENTED 128
72 HAD NOT BEEN ADDRESSED 127
73 HADN’T BEEN BORN 127
74 HAD NOT BEEN MENTIONED 126
75 HAD NOT BEEN SERVED 126
76 HAD NOT BEEN RAISED 125
77 HAD NOT BEEN CREATED 125
78 HAD NOT BEEN ARRESTED 122
79 HAD NOT BEEN APPLIED 122
80 HAD NOT BEEN SHOWN 122
81 HADN’T BEEN RELEASED 120
82 HAD NOT BEEN DELIVERED 120
83 HAD NOT BEEN CUT 120
84 HAD NOT BEEN RESOLVED 118
85 HAD NOT BEEN OPENED 117
86 HAD NOT BEEN DESTROYED 116
87 HAD NOT BEEN INTRODUCED 115
88 HAD NOT BEEN TAUGHT 115
89 HAD NOT BEEN RECORDED 114
90 HAD NOT BEEN RETURNED 112
91 HADN’T BEEN CHANGED 110
92 HAD NOT BEEN CLEARED 110
93 HAD NOT BEEN INSTALLED 110
94 HAD NOT BEEN OFFERED 108
95 HAD NOT BEEN KNOWN 108
96 HAD NOT BEEN FILED 108
97 HAD NOT BEEN DISCLOSED 106
98 HAD NOT BEEN PROVEN 105
99 HAD NOT BEEN ISSUED 105
100 HAD NOT BEEN ANNOUNCED 103
The most common B2 past participles are:
affected, determined, established, exposed, granted, identified, implemented, released, treated
Here are examples sentence of them created and explained by AI:
The meaning of each sentence is that the action or event in the past participle did not happen before another action or moment in the past. The context of each sentence is that the speaker is expressing a contrast or a regret about the past situation. For example:
-
- The environment had not been affected by the new regulations. This means that the new regulations did not have any impact on the environment before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is criticizing the new regulations for being ineffective or irrelevant.
- The cause of the accident had not been determined by the investigators. This means that the investigators did not find out the reason for the accident before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is reporting the progress of the investigation or expressing frustration about the lack of clarity.
- The rules of the game had not been established before the match started. This means that the game did not have any clear guidelines before it began in the past. The context could be that the speaker is explaining why the game was chaotic or unfair.
- The scandal had not been exposed by the media. This means that the media did not reveal the scandal to the public before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is describing how the scandal was kept secret or how it was eventually discovered.
- The permission had not been granted by the authorities. This means that the authorities did not give their approval for something before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is explaining why something was delayed or canceled.
- The suspect had not been identified by the witnesses. This means that the witnesses did not recognize or name the suspect before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is describing how the suspect escaped or how he or she was caught later.
- The plan had not been implemented by the team. This means that the team did not put their plan into action before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is evaluating why the plan failed or succeeded.
- The results had not been released by the researchers. This means that the researchers did not publish or share their results before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is discussing why there was no information or feedback about their research.
- The patient had not been treated with the right medication. This means that the patient did not receive the correct medicine before a certain time in the past. The context could be that the speaker is describing how this affected their health or recovery.
We believe that ‘past perfect passive affirmative questions’ should be listed at C1. Therefore, past perfect passive negative questions should be C2.
Here are our examples written by AI:
- Had the environment not been affected by the new regulations?
- Had the cause of the accident not been determined by the investigators
- Had the rules of the game not been established before the match started?
- Had the scandal not been exposed by the media?
- Had the permission not been granted by the authorities?
- Had the suspect not been identified by the witnesses?
- Had the plan not been implemented by the team?
- Had the results not been released by the researchers?
- Had the patient not been treated with the right medication?