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

Try another grammar lesson

Language level

B1 Intermediate

B2 Upper intermediate

Hi LearnEnglish Team 1) I was exhausted because I had been standing all that time. I came across this sentence in an online course saying that we use past perfect to show the cause of a past action. I know that for the past perfect to make sense it needs another past action which relates to pp but is the sentence 1) correct the way it stands and the statement about showing the cause??? Thanks in advance

Hi Tony1980,

Yes, the sentence is correct.

Perfect forms of all kinds connect a later event or state with an earlier one, so the present perfect connects the present to the past and the past perfect connects the past to an earlier past. The connection is important - it's not just a question of time, but of one action (the earlier one) influencing in some way the other (later) one. This influence is often causal, as what you have read suggests. For example, compare these:

I was exhausted. I had been standing for hours.
I was exhausted. I stood for hours.

In the first sentence the use of the past perfect makes it clear that the person is exhausted as a result of standing for hours. In the second sentence this is not so clear. It may be that the person was already exhausted and then had to stand for hours, for example.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Good day Teacher,

I want to know the difference between I'd never met anyone from California before I met Jim. and I have never met anyone from California before I met Jim. Is the second sentence grammatically correct? Also, I wonder if I could take another test to see if I have improved. Thank you for all the lessons.

Hello yasuragi,

The past perfect form (had never met) describes a situation before another event in the past (past before past). The present perfect describes a situation before another event in the present. In your example the second event is in the past, so the past perfect is needed and the second sentence is not correct.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Can you please tell me which form(s) of the verb in the brackets should be used to fill in the gap? Thanks!

He travelled to Paris where he met other artists. Starting from that, he _____ (create) over 2000 pieces of artwork in just 10 years.

Hello beckysyto,

Generally, we don't answer questions like this as we don't want to do users' homework or tests for them! However, if you tell us what you think the answer is then we'll be happy to give you some feedback.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks a lot for your response.

"Starting from that" means "since he met other artists". After he met other artists, he started to create of over 2000 pieces of artwork. The creation started some time in the past and it continued for 10 years in the past. He had created over 2000 pieces of artwork for 10 years. Therefore, I think the best answer (or may be the only correct answer) is "had created".

I wonder if the past simple is also possible since the creation happened entirely in the past.

Hello beckysyto,

I really depends on the context beyond this sentence:

He travelled to Paris where he met other artists. Starting from that, he _____ (create) over 2000 pieces of artwork in just 10 years

It's not clear from this sentence is the person is still alive and still working or not. If so, 'has created' would be best (present perfect for unfinished past). If the person is no longer alive or has stopped working then 'created' is the best choice. From your answer I understand that the latter is the case.

The past perfect is not appropriate as the sentence stands as there is no later past time from which we are looking back; the sentence describes actions in sequence (travel > meet > create). The past perfect could be possible if there were another, later, past time somewhere in the context beyond the sentence. For example:

He travelled to Paris where he met other artists. Starting from that, he _____ (create) over 2000 pieces of artwork in just 10 years by the time I met him.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team