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
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
Hello Nabeelah,
It's fine to use the past perfect for multiple actions so long as there is a later past time reference point. The past perfect has the meaning of before then, so there must be another point in the past before which the events take place. For example, your sentence without any context would not make sense as there is no later point of reference. Of course, in context there probably would be:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello kingson,
Both forms are possible. When we shift the tense back in reported speech it does not mean that the action is in the past.
For example:
Direct speech:
Reported speech:
Both options are grammatically correct. The first sentence tells us that she liked me at the time she said it. It does not tell us if this is still true or not. The second tells us that she liked me at the time she said it and that it is still true today.
In your example, the context within the sentence (until he came) already tells us that the action is still true, so whether or not the tense is present (need) or past (needed) makes no difference.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Peter,
Can we say this in the following form?
"Jesus said we needed to do this until he comes." (here we know that Jesus has not come yet). So can we say "until he comes" (present tense) in this sentence with a past tense (Jesus said we needed) in it?
Hope, you understand what I want to know.
Regards,
kingson
Hello kingson,
The sentence is grammatically fine. After 'until' we use a present form to talk about the future, just as we do with 'if' and 'when').
In the first part of the sentence you have reported a speech construction, and there are two choices with regard to tense:
The first option makes it clear that it was true when Jesus said it and is still true now; the second option tells us that it was true when Jesus said it but does not tell us whether or not it is still true now. Another example may clarify:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello _princess_,
Both are possible. The choice of which to use depends upon the context and the speaker's intention.
When we want to show a straightforward sequence of events we use the past simple, as in your first example. When it is important for some reason to emphasise that one action came before another, or when the later event is in some way dependent on or changed by the earlier event, we can use the past perfect with a past simple, as in your second example.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team