Past perfect

Past perfect

Do you know how to use phrases like They'd finished the project by March or Had you finished work when I called? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how the past perfect is used.

He couldn't make a sandwich because he'd forgotten to buy bread.
The hotel was full, so I was glad that we'd booked in advance.
My new job wasn't exactly what I’d expected.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

Grammar B1-B2: Past perfect: 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

Time up to a point in the past

We use the past perfect simple (had + past participle) to talk about time up to a certain point in the past.

She'd published her first poem by the time she was eight. 
We'd finished all the water before we were halfway up the mountain.
Had the parcel arrived when you called yesterday?

Past perfect for the earlier of two past actions

We can use the past perfect to show the order of two past events. The past perfect shows the earlier action and the past simple shows the later action.

When the police arrived, the thief had escaped.

It doesn't matter in which order we say the two events. The following sentence has the same meaning.

The thief had escaped when the police arrived.

Note that if there's only a single event, we don't use the past perfect, even if it happened a long time ago.

The Romans spoke Latin. (NOT The Romans had spoken Latin.)

Past perfect after before

We can also use before + past perfect to show that an action was not done or was incomplete when the past simple action happened.

They left before I'd spoken to them.
Sadly, the author died before he'd finished the series.

Adverbs

We often use the adverbs already (= 'before the specified time'), still (= as previously), just (= 'a very short time before the specified time'), ever (= 'at any time before the specified time') or never (= 'at no time before the specified time') with the past perfect. 

I called his office but he'd already left.
It still hadn't rained at the beginning of May.
I went to visit her when she'd just moved to Berlin.
It was the most beautiful photo I'd ever seen.
Had you ever visited London when you moved there?
I'd never met anyone from California before I met Jim.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2

Grammar B1-B2: Past perfect: 2

 

Language level

Average: 4.2 (136 votes)

Submitted by shubhamgupta on Sun, 28/10/2018 - 14:43

Permalink
hello sir, pls tell me the difference between the given sentences--- 1.India had invited trump to attend republic day celebrations in 2019 2. India invited trump to attend republic day celebrations in 2019. as we know that past perfect is used when we have two separate events one after the other but i dont think that this condition is followed here sir. and if it so then when such sentences could be formed?
Profile picture for user Kirk Moore

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sun, 28/10/2018 - 17:35

In reply to by shubhamgupta

Permalink

Hello shubhamgupta,

You're right in thinking that there are separate events that occur in a sequence, but this doesn't mean that they both have to be mentioned in the same sentence. I expect that somewhere in the sentences before sentence 1, another event, subsequent to the invitation, is mentioned.

You can see some additional example sentences on this page.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by bakh.sh85 on Mon, 22/10/2018 - 20:08

Permalink
Hello In an English grammar book, I saw some time signals for past perfect as following: before + past simple + past perfect after + past perfect + past simple until + past simple + past perfect by the time + past simple + past perfect So can these words be the clues for "past perfect" and "past simple" tenses? P.s. I am not sure about the accuracy of the tenses of all the words I mentioned... plz help
Profile picture for user Peter M.

Submitted by Peter M. on Wed, 24/10/2018 - 07:10

In reply to by bakh.sh85

Permalink

Hello bak.sh85,

There are tendencies which work like this but please remember that they are not fixed rules. It is perfectly fine to use before + past simple + past perfect, for example, but it is also fine to use before + past simple + past simple. Pattterns like this can be misleading if you follow them as if they were rules. The context is key.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

regarding my previous question about time reference words, can this word "by" follows these rules? by the time + past perfect + past simple/ by the time + past simple + past perfect or both past simple... E.g. By the time Josh had reached the age of 18, he had already lived in several different countries. E.g. By the time he phoned her, she had found someone new. As you said the context is the key and there is no fixed rule, so how non-native English speakers will recognize them? especially students... Thanks a lot

Hi bakh.sh85,

Like Peter, I'm a little hesitant to speak about 'rules', but I can say that your sentences are both correct and natural-sounding. I'd encourage you to focus on the meaning that the verb forms communicate to help remember them.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by shubhamgupta on Sat, 13/10/2018 - 05:37

Permalink
hi, this sentence has been taken from an explanation "to put a smoke" means to make it difficult for someone to achieve something they had planned to do . "to put a smoke" means to make it difficult for someone to achieve something they planned to do . what is the difference between these two ? and if i would have to write " had" as in the first case what does it signify? thank you for your time
Profile picture for user Kirk Moore

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sat, 13/10/2018 - 06:43

In reply to by shubhamgupta

Permalink

Hello shubhamgupta,

The first sentence, with the past perfect verb, puts more emphasis on the fact that the planned action was to happen earlier than the other one. You could use either sentence with no difference in meaning in most any context I can think of.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team