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,
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:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you, Peter.
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!
Hello Keiko,
I agree that 1 doesn't work and I like your suggested revision of it.
I think 2 is OK. The teacher read the first couple of essays and then realised that the marking would take a long time.
I agree with what you say about 3.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello,
I got this sentence from a book that I'm reading, " He had been crippled as a child" . Does this sentence imply that He started to be crippled when He was a child and it lasted until a specific time in the past?
Hello Khangvo2812,
This is a past perfect verb in the passive voice that refers to the specific event after which the person in question was disabled.
This is a fairly typical use of the verb 'cripple', though FYI nowadays people tend to use 'disable' instead of 'cripple', which can have a negative connotation for some people.
Unless there is some other suggestion that this person is no longer disabled, I'd understand this to be the condition of the person in question throughout their life.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Good day sir
I have yet another doubt.
I ____ working all afternoon and have just finished the assignment. Which one should I use had been or have been?
Thank you.
Hello drbindurekab,
As it stands there is no reason to use the past perfect here so 'have been working' is the best option. In order to use 'had been working' you would need another past time to act as a reference point and there is none given here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
If I understand the idea correctly, Past Perfect and Past Simple work like this:
- Before she got acquainted with her psycologist, she had believed that she didn't have any psychological problems. (believing and having are at the same time)
- Before we had a conversation yesterday, I had believed that the company had been founded by his father, but actually it had been his grandfather who started the business. (founding before believing, being and starting are at the same time)
But, what happens when we don't have subordinate clauses?
- Not so long ago, John had a prestigious job at Google, but all of a sudden his project was closed, and he was made redundant. He really liked the USA and his place in Palo Alto, but when his career took a heavy hit, the situation got him thinking about coming back to Canada and trying to open his own business there. To make sure that he could sever his ties with California, he decided to give himself one last chance. Before leaving the country, he had sent his CV to a few big companies, but his phone stubbornly refused to ring.
Can I use Past Perfect and Past Simple in the last sentence together? 'he had sent his CV to a few big companies, but his phone stubbornly refused to ring' - is a compound sentence with two independent clauses. My idea is to use Past Perfect to emphasize a completed action before another action in the past (leaving the country). Can it be done by means of Past Perfect? Or should I use Past Simple and agree this action with the tenses in the first two sentences?
Thank you