Past perfect
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 HoangHuyVNOMG,
Those sentences are both grammatically (if, as you say, not factually) correct.
The first sentence contains only one past time reference: spoke as a past event. The second sentence contains two past time references: spoke and the year 1100.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Oh thank you, Peter! This kinda makes sense to me now.
I think I was confused about the word "event". I thought events needed to be some sort of actions (hence no actions in "1100"). So time references can also count here. Am I right?
Thank you in advance.
Hello again HoangHuyVNOMG,
Yes, that's right. We're really interested in anything which anchors the sentence in a past time so it can be an action, a state or a time reference.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello there,
I'm a bit confused about using the past perfect simple and past perfect continuous in these sentences :
Mr John (had worked - had been working) as a shop assistant before he decided to change his job.
Mr John (had worked - had been working) as a shop assistant before he was promoted.
Mr John (had worked - had been working) as a shop assistant before he owned the shop.
could you please notify me of the correct tenses with explanation
Hello Mohamed A.Basset,
Continuous aspect is very often a choice which depends upon the context and the speaker's focus, rather than a clear factual distinction. Past perfect works in the same way as present perfect in this regard, with the difference that where present perfect is before now, past perfect describes before then. Therefore you might find it useful to review this information:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/present-perfect-simple-continuous
Both forms are possible here. The continuous form makes it clear that Mr. John was still working as a shop assistant when he made the decision; the simple form may mean this, or may mean that this work was earlier in his life.
These examples function in the same way as the first.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
Source: Fic: Haveans King, Rachel Baker, 2013
The clause beginning with "before" sets the later event, it follows "they agreed to meet up." The only thing that confuses me a little is the presence of the past perfect in the before-clause. It looks like the correct sequence here is: Agreed to meet up -> had been taken ill -> found out.
So, is the past perfect in this example used to indicate something that happens after an event indicated by the past simple? Is this use possible/idiomatic?
Thank you
Hello Tony_M,
The past perfect here is used to show the relation between the two events in the subsidiary clause (finding out and being taken ill). I agree it would be more consistent and clearer to use the past perfect in the main clause but I think the conjunction before does the heavy lifting in terms of establishing the sequence of finding out being earlier than agreeing to meet.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you very much.
Hello, dear teachers and team!
Could you please help me with the following:
He arrived just five minutes before the ceremony.
Is it possible to say He had arrived just five minutes before the ceremony. (in the meaning before the ceremony started)
Thank you very much indeed!
Hello howtosay_,
When we want to show a sequence of actions in the past there is no need for past perfect. For example:
This morning I had a shower and brushed my teeth. Then I drank a coffee and went for a walk.
These actions are listed in chronological order but we can change the sequence and still use past simple:
I went for a walk to day. Before that I drank a coffee and before that I had a shower and brushed my teeth.
The past perfect is used when one action in the past is before another action and the two actions are connected in some way. In other words, the earlier action influences, changes or causes the later action. For example:
I drank a coffee at home. I didn't drink a coffee at work. [two actions]
I didn't drink a coffee at work. I had drunk a coffee at home. [two connected actions - I didn't drink a coffee because of the earlier one, which was enough]
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team