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?

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 with before

We can also use the past perfect followed by before 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

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Language level

B1 English level (intermediate)

Hello. I am supposed to do a test on Past Perfect Simple and Past Simple. Is this correct? The two men needed to get back to their camp quickly because they HAD ALREADY USED all their gas to make water from snow. Also, they DIDN'T BRING any extra food with them on this trip. Yates HAD TRIED to lower Simpson down the mountain on a rope, but Yates couldn't hold him so he HAD TO cut the rope. After trying to call him for several hours Yates was sure that Simpson HAD DIED so he walked down the mountain alone. However, Simpson HADN'T BEEN dead. He somehow managed to get out of the hole and get back to camp. Yates HAD ALREADY BURNED Simpson's clothes and was preparing to leave. He WAS very happy to see him because he HAD LOST all hope to see him alive.

Hello freudian99,

That's mostly correct. I'd recommend 'hadn't brought' for the third gap, 'tried' for the fourth, and 'wasn't' for the sixth.

Good luck on your test!

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Team Teacher,I have 2 questions 1) I sometimes see just one event like:"We had already seen the film." Why we don't say"We have already seen the film"? What's the difference? 2)We use past perfect to identify which happened first and we have 2 events, but Why we use past perfect with 1 event? We don't need to identify this event?

Hi Yigido,

These are good questions :) Yes, if the past perfect is used, there must be a second past action or time. But, it could be somewhere else in the conversation, i.e. a previous or later sentence. It doesn't need to be in the same sentence. For example:

We switched on the TV, and Star Wars was on Channel 1. But we had already seen the film. So, we changed the channel.

In this example, the past perfect (we had already seen the film) shows that that action happened some time before the other past actions.

If the narrative is in the present, then we use the present perfect.

We have already seen this film. Let's change the channel. (i.e. change the channel now)

Does that make sense?

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Teacher I have one more question. "We had a good rest when our gests had all left." Why we use -Past perfect-after 'when' conjunction? We usually use -Present simple- after 'when'.

Hi Yigido,

Yes, we do use the present simple after when. But it's not the only option. We can use other tenses too, depending on the timeframe of the actions in the sentence. Here, the action (our guests had all left) must have happened before the other past action (We had a good rest), so that's why the past perfect is used here.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

The United States has always grabbed global attention for just being what is it—the United States. Is this sentence correct any way ?

Hello Amit01,

It is grammatically correct except for one small thing: instead of 'what is it', the correct form is 'what it is'.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

It is a key opportunity for India, which had played a major role in Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971, to revive the bonhomie. - in this sentence why we should use past perfect tense other than only past tense? What is the difference? Please explain.

Hi Amit01,

We use the past perfect when there two past actions, and we want to show which one happened first (i.e. earlier). In this sentence, had played a major role happened before liberation in 1971, so that's why it's in the past perfect.

But, we often simplify it and use the past simple instead of the past perfect. We do that if the sentence clearly shows which action happened first. Here, it's quite clear that played a major role happened before liberation - because that makes sense logically as a cause and effect, and also played a major role is mentioned first in the sentence (i.e. the actions are in the same order in the sentence as the order that they happened). So, the past simple would be fine here too!

Does that make sense?

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank You so much!

Hello Sir. I have a question. What is the difference in meaning in these sentences: 1) The waiter took my plate away before I had finished eating. 2) The waiter took my plate away before I finished eating. I know that both versions are correct, but I can't understand meaning of example number 2. Thank you very much for your answer.

Hello Arcasso,

In this context there is no difference. The use of the conjunction before removes any possible ambiguity as to the sequence of the actions, so using the past perfect does not change anything.

If before is not used then there may be a difference. For example:

1. I finished eating and the waiter took my plate away.

2. I had finished eating and the waiter took my plate away.

Sentence 1 describes a sequence of actions and we may infer that one followed immediately or very shortly after the other. In sentence 2, the implication is that there is not only a sequence but also a connection between the two actions: taking the plate away was dependent on the first action (finishing the meal). In other words, the first sentence could describe two entirely unconnected but sequential actions, while the second sentence shows a connection of some kind.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

First I ___ the salad, then I toasted the bread. Why I couldn't choose past perfect (had made)?

We don't need Past Perfect here because there is a simple sequence of events that happened successively, one by one, the idea of precedence is irrelevant here. E.g. We came home late in the evening. He had supper, read the newspaper and went to bed -> a list of events in the past. BUT if we want to stress the idea of precedence we can use Past Perfect. In this case some adverbs will come in handy. E.g. After the sun had set, we decided to return home.

Meanwhile, the Indian Consulate said around 300 Indian passengers had been stopped at the airport so far. “Around 80 were allowed entry later. I have a confusion with the above sentence. I thought "so far" could be used only with Present perfect tense(Passengers have been stopped at the airport so far).Is it appropriate to use had been in this case ? Thank you very much in advance.

Hello Abdul Azeez Ibrahim,

It's true that 'so far' usually refers to the present, which is why it's most often used with the present perfect, but I'm not sure it's completely wrong to use it in this way. If I were writing that, I'd probably replace it with 'until that point' or some similar phrase so as to avoid using 'so far'.

Hope this helps.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, What is the difference between these 2 sentences? e.g, This is the oldest building in the town. It'd been built over 200 years ago. e.g, This is the oldest building in the town. It was built over 200 years ago. Based on my understanding, "was" indicated the situation which is no longer true. But "had" indicated something that happened before some specific time. Thanks a lot.

Hello Via,

Your understanding is correct.

As you say, the past perfect (had been built) indicates that an action in the past happened before and was connected in some way to a second, later action. That means it does not exist in isolation without a second time reference; without this, the past perfect does not make sense.

Without any context to indicate a second time reference, only the sentence with the past simple (was built) makes sense here.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello The following sentence uses Past Perfect Tense even though it contains only 1 action from the past. Is it correct? Had the show started already?

Hi ER,

If we look at the sentence alone, it's not correct because, as you point out, there's only one past action in it. It would need to be in the past simple or present perfect tense.

But, do you know the context of this sentence? What are the other sentences in the conversation? It may be correct if another sentence mentions a past action which this sentence also refers to. For example: We arrived at 7 p.m. and we could hear music. Had the show started already? In this case, the use of the past perfect is correct.

Does that make sense?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Jonathan, Your answer made me to think more. So far I have heard that the past perfect needs a past action reference. But in your answer you mentioned that we could have a present prefect (reference)to have a past perfect tense in a sentence. Could you please give me an example for this? Thank you, Regards, kingson

Hi kingsonselvaraj,

That's not quite it. The present perfect isn't for the referred-to action. What I wanted to say was that the present perfect is an option to correct the verb tense in the original sentence. If we analyse the sentence alone (i.e. without the context of any other sentences in the conversation), the tense needs to change to one of these options.

Did the show start already? (past simple)
Has the show started already? (present perfect)

Does that make sense?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you so much, Jonathan, Regards, kingson

As your explanation Sir Peter, We use Past Perfect when there are two past time references (then and before then) and the earlier action has influence or affects to the later action. We use Past simple when there is one single event or sequence of actions(which do not influence or affect to the later action) Am I correct Sir? Also, correct me like before.

Hello DaniWeebKage,

Yes, I think that's a reasonable summary. The context is always important, of course, as a second time may be implied rather than explicitly stated.

We don't correct posts on LearnEnglish. I know correction is very useful, but we have many thousands of users and reply to many comments every day. It's just not possible for us to correct user posts, unfortunately.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Team, I'm so confused with Past Perfect and Past Simple. Which Sentence would be correct? "Blinding Lights" makes me feel the time that I'd not even lived in (past perfect) Or "Blinding Lights" makes me feel the time that I didn't even live in (Past simple)

Hello DaniWeebKage,

Your example isn't a well structured sentence, I'm afraid. I'll try and reformulate it below and then comment on the verb form.

"Blinding Lights" makes me feel like I'm in a time that I didn't even live in.

We use the past simple here because we have only one past time reference.

We use the past perfect when we have two past time references: then and before then. If the sentence were about how you felt in the past then the past pefect could be used:

"Blinding Lights" made me feel like I was in a time that I hadn't even live in.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank You, Sir, But I was wondering If I could use Present Perfect instead. I've read Present Perfect shows Experiences. Then, Sir, "Blinding lights" makes me feel like I am in a time that I haven't even lived in. Does it correct? Thanks again, Sir, Stay Safe

Hello DaniWeebKage,

Yes, that is grammatically possible. The sentence is describing a feeling or an impression rather than something concrete in the world, so there's a lot of ambiguity in terms of what it is supposed to mean.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Can I change this sentence "We'd finished all the water before we were halfway up the mountain." to 'Past perfect with before' with this sentence "We drank/finished all the water before we had arrived at the top of the mountain."

Hello kyawkyawsoezhu,

You could use either the past perfect (we had finished) or the past simple (we finished) here. The past simple shows a sequence of actions; the past perfect connects the actions in some way, emphasising that the earlier action had some kind of influence or effect on the later action.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Team, Is the following sentence correct? "I have been noticing (present perfect continuous) your progress and found out (past tense) that you have done well (present perfect tense)." Can we use present perfect continuous, past and present perfect in a single sentence like this? Please enlighten me in this regard. Thank you, Regards, kingson

Hello kingson,

It is possible to use the tenses you mention in the same sentence, though of course they can mean different things. I'm not sure what the exact situation and meaning you intend here are, but if I am imagining them correctly, I'd recommend something like 'You have done well and I have noticed your progress' (if that sounds appropriate to you).

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Kirk, I am just writing a little story for some people at my place. That's why I am just caught up by the doubt. I always understand that the tenses we use in a sentence should go along. Say for an example, in a reported speech we say "John told (past) me that Sam bought (past) a book." (in the direct speech - John said to me, "Sam buys a book.") . Here we are changing the present tense (buys) into past tense (bought), because it is reported (said to - told) in the past. So why cannot we do that in all other circumstances? In this example, we start with present perfect continuous (I have been noticing) and we shift to past (found out) and finish with present perfect (have done). My question here is - Can we mix tenses like this? If so.. why we are not doing it (mixing the tenses) in the reported speech? I also know that in the relative clause, subordinate clause and the dependent clause, the tenses can be changed. And I also know that some of the adverbial sentences can have a mix of tenses. So please explain to me in this example (I have been noticing you ..........) how we can mix the tenses? Thank you, Regards, kingson

Hello kingson,

Your sentence 'I have been noticing your progress and found out that you have done well' still sounds a little strange to me because it's not clear to me what you mean. For example, 'have been noticing' implies you started this noticing in the past and are still doing it now, but then 'found out' implies you only discovered progress in the past, yet then the sentence goes on to a present perfect reference, which implies they did well recently -- but is it after the time you stopped finding out? I was imagining a teacher praising their students for their continual progress and so the past simple threw me off. But maybe I've misunderstood?

Without knowing the situation you are describing and what exactly you want to say, it's really difficult to give feedback about verb tenses, since there's quite a range of possible uses and meanings for each. We'll still do our best to help as we have time to do so here, but if you are able to get help from a teacher you can speak with, I think you'd find it much easier.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you very much, Kirk for your concerning answer. Yes, I cannot explain the whole situation, because it will take much time for you to read it. So as you said it will be good idea to consult with a teacher. I have lot of similar doubts to ask. So please let me know, if you have a program that I can engage with, so that I can talk/chat to a teacher. I have already noticed that there is a course for 5.99 pounds per month in your company. Will that be a useful course for me? please guide me in this line. Thank you, Regards, kingson

Hi kingson,

Our self-access courses, which are available to our subscribers and cost £5.99 per month, are not led by teachers and at least for now, there is nowhere to ask questions in them. So I wouldn't recommend that for this particular purpose.

The British Council English Online courses are online group classes led by teachers. You would be able to ask short questions in such a class, but I'm not sure you'd be able to ask long ones. They are also more expensive.

You can also get one-on-one help from a tutor. The first session costs £1, but I'm afraid I don't know how long it is or how much they cost after that.

You might be able to find an English teacher near where you live whom you could work with -- that would probably be the surest way to get the kind of help you are looking for.

Hope this helps.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Team, Can we frame the sentences as follows. "I thought (past tense) that you might have gone (past future perfect) to the movie that I saw (past tense) last week." "I thought (past tense) that you might have thought (past future perfect) that John is (present tense) a wonderful person to approach." Please let me know whether the above sentences are correct or not and why. Thank you, Regards, kingson

Hello kingson,

Both sentences are grammatically correct -- well done! I wouldn't use the term 'past future perfect', though.

If you have a specific question about one of them, please let us know.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Mr. I have a question. She has never been to Canada before. She had never seen a real live elephant before. Why did they use present perfect in the first sentence, and they use past perfect in the second on? What the difference between both of them?

Hello Reemtb,

The present perfect tells us about something which happened in the past but is still true and still relevant in the present. It describes something in the past from the point of view of the present. Thus, in your example the speaker is describing the woman's whole life up to now.

The past perfect is similar but instead of relating the past to the present, it relates a past event to later past time. Thus, it needs two past time points: past and futher past. The two events must be related in some way. Thus, in your example, the speaker is describing the woman's whole life up to some point in the past. That point is not mentioned in the sentence but would be indicated in the context in which the sentence is used.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank Mr a lot. So if I used present perfect in the second sentence, it wouldn't be wrong. She has never seen a real elephant before.

Hello again Reemtb,

Yes, that would be fine. It would refer to her whole life up to the moment of speaking.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks a lot for your clarification Mr.

Hello. Could you please explain why past perfect is used in this sentence? Is it because of adverb "Just"? Thanks In the four summers from 2015 to 2018, Irish League clubs had secured just six victories from 42 European games.

Hello Viktoriano96,

Perfect forms are very much context dependent and it's not possible to say why the past perfect is used here without knowing the broader context in which the sentence appears. In the sentence as written, the past simple is also possible. I would imagine that there is another past time reference somewhere in the text which provided a point from which the speaker/writer is looking back, but this is not clear from the sentence alone.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

How to use past/past perfect tense when referring a letter with date. For example, we had conveyed our approval to the company vide our letter dated 22 August 2018 . Is it correct?

Hi Shanth,

It's a bit difficult to say which tense to use if we only look at a single sentence. That's because the choice of tense also depends on information in other sentences before or after this one.

But, if we just take this sentence alone, it's not correct to use past perfect because there's only one action in the sentence (conveyed our approval). The past perfect is used when there are two past actions, and we want to show clearly which one happened first (see above for more explanation). So, past simple is the right tense for this sentence.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Would you please explain the rule of this sentence. " First I made the salad, then I toasted with bread". Thanks in advance.