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 (138 votes)

Submitted by Aung Qui on Tue, 08/10/2024 - 16:24

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Hello, 

It still hadn't rained at the beginning of May.

It still didn't rain at the beginning of May.

Can both sentences be grammatically correct?

Hello Aung Qui,

Yes, both sentences are grammatically correct.

The past simple is used when we are describing actions individually, often in sequence:

I got up, took a shower, got dressed and then drank a coffee.

The past perfect is used when we are looking back from a point in the past to an earlier point in the past and want to connect the events in some way:

After I had got up, I took a shower. Then once I had got dressed, I drank a coffee.

Thus, both of your sentences are grammatically correct. Whether they work in the larger context I cannot say as I don't know the larger context.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by midohada on Sat, 28/09/2024 - 11:03

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Good morning.
Could you clarify the following for me:
1-Is the sentence below correct?
2-Isn't it correct to remove the "how long = for three months" because the sentence is in "past perfect" which gives us: 
On the 20th of July, I'd worked here.

-The sentence under discussion is: On the 20th of July, I'd worked here for three months.

Hello midohada,

Perfect aspect is retrospective, meaning that it looks back from a point in time to an earlier time. In the case of the past perfect this means looking back from the past into an earlier past.

In your example the time phrase is needed as it connects the past (working here) with an earlier past (the previous three months). Without this time reference there is no reason to use the perfect aspect and we would use a past tense:

  • To describe a completed past action we would use the past simple: On the 20th of July, I finished the project.
  • To describe an ongoing (in progress) past action we would use the past continuous: On the 20th of July I was working in the office.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you so much.

I have found in a lesson that: 
-past perfect: with no "how long = for three months" 
On the 20th of July, I'd already finished working here.

-past perfect continuous: with "how long = for three months" 
On the 20th of July, I'd been working here for three months.

1-could you tell me if that is correct?

Hello again midohada,

Both sentences are correct.

The simple form tells us about a completed action in the past (had finshed) which we are looking back on from a point later in the past (the 20th of July). In other words, the end of the work came at some point before the 20th of July. The adverb 'already' links the two time references.

In the second example, the continuous form tells us that the activity was ongoing. In other words, the work continued at least up to the 20th of July without ending. Here, the continuous aspect shows that the action was incomplete or in progress.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Tony_M on Mon, 19/08/2024 - 15:46

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Hello,

A: Yesterday, one of my subordinates was supposed to give her first call to a very big client, but even before that, she mixed everything up, was confused, and couldn't even hear what I was saying to her.
B: Well, it's not uncommon with these youngsters. You hadn't even started, and it was doomed already. 

A: Yes, they never cease to surprise me. 

B assumes that from A's perspective on the day when the subordinate was supposed to give the call to that client it was: 'We (A and the subordinate) haven't even started, and it's doomed already.' Since the situation is in the past now, B uses backshift, so present perfect becomes past perfect, and present simple becomes past simple. 

Can I use past perfect in the last sentence?

If yes, would it be correct to say that we use past perfect to indicate the absence of the completed action?  

Hello Tony,

When you say 'the last sentence' you mean B's last sentence, not A's reply, I assume. If so, then yes you can use the past perfect in this way (hadn't even started...). It's quite a common use to establish how early or unexpected an event was:

The party hadn't even started when...

I hadn't even opened my laptop when...

Before I had even knocked, she...

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Keiko on Wed, 14/08/2024 - 13:18

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Hello,

I'm really confused of these sentence.

(1) They were given help and advice before they had made the decision.

(2) I didn’t know the marking would take so long until I had read the first couple of essays.

(3) The waiter took my plate away before I had finished eating.

In my opinion, given help is the first action and made the decision is the second action, so the first sentence should be they had been given help and advice before they made the decision.

In same way, the second sentence should be I hadn't known the marking would take so long until I read the first couple of essays.

As for the third sentence, I think it obeys the following rule: We can also use before + past perfect to show that an action was not done or was incomplete when the past simple action happened.

Hoping to get your reply soon.

Thank you!