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 (100 votes)
Do you need to improve your English grammar?
Join thousands of learners from around the world who are improving their English grammar with our online courses.

Hi Sue2022,

In this sentence, It still hadn't rained means that there was no rain not only at the beginning of May, but also in the time leading up to the beginning of May. This is the "Time up to a point in the past" meaning. Does that make sense?

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Gretalicious on Wed, 09/02/2022 - 07:11

Permalink

Hello people, I`ve had some problems with the use of contraction in the past perfect. I`m reading a book at the moment, and the tenses are often in simple past in past perfect. Some examples:
"He had dumped the stolen car..." / "He`d no idea how she`d made the connection,..." / "She had walked to the..." / "She`d already made it..."

These sentences all are in past perfect, aren't they? Why are the contractions used so irregular? Are there some rules about the contractions ?

Thank for help a lot!

Hi Gretalicious,

Most of those verbs are in the past perfect: (1) he had dumped, (2) she'd made, (3) She had walked, (4) She'd already made. Actually, it is regular to contract the auxiliary verb had to 'd, as in (2) and (4). We could also contract (1) to he'd dumped and (3) to She'd walked.

One verb is in the simple past: He'd no idea (= He had no idea). Here, the verb had is the main verb (not auxiliary verb). It's a bit less common to contract have when it is the main verb - it's more often contracted when it is the auxiliary verb. But it is sometimes done, as in this example.

Does that make sense? I hope it helps.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Jonathan,
thank you for your response! And ses this make totally sense :)

But in relation to the contractions: Is there a rule, how to apply the contractions? Because in these examples, sometimes they are used and sometimes not. That's what confuses me...

Hello Gretalicious,

Contractions are generally a way of making writing more informal, as they reflect the way we speak in informal situations. They are therefore commonly used in informal writing. For example, in our comments we often use contractions because these are informal interactions, and when I write emails or messages to my friends, I also use them.

They are also commonly used in writing that is neutral -- somewhere between formal and informal -- such as emails to colleagues in your workplace or, depending on cultural factors, even professors at universities. In general, though, if you're not sure whether contractions are appropriate or not, it's probably better not to use them.

Beyond that, I'm afraid it's quite difficult to make any useful generalizations, but if you have a more specific situation in mind, please let us know.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by kingsonselvaraj on Sun, 19/12/2021 - 05:11

Permalink

Dear Team,
"I have noticed that he broke it."
Is this a reported speech?
How can a pesent perfect (have noticed) and a past tense (broke) come together in a sentence?
Can the sentence after the conjunction (that) be used or considered as holding the adverbial function? Or Is there any sentence that we can use as an adverbial sentance which comes after "that"? - can you please give me some examples?
Thank you,
Regards,
kingson

Hello kingson,

This is not an example of reported speech because no speech (words) is being reported.

I'm afraid it's difficult to comment on this sentence without knowing more about what it's reporting. My first impression, though, is that it's odd because if he broke it in the past, how is it that I've noticed it now -- in other words, how do I know for sure that he broke it and not someone else?

Could you explain it a bit more?

I don't think I'd say that the 'that' clause has an adverbial function. If you can tell us more about this, maybe we can help you with it, but we don't generally go into the nitty gritty of sentence structure -- our main focus is on helping people use English rather than on parsing it.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Kirk,
Thank you very much for your response.
Normally when I tend to make sentences like this (I have noticed that he broke it), I normally believe that the second part of the sentence is a past knowledge/memory (he broke it) that we can relate to current situation (I have noticed). Am I correct in my thinking? - This is my basic query.
Hope, this time I have asked my question in a clearer way.
Thank you,
Regards,
kingson

Hello kingson,

Yes, I think that's possible, but in this situation I think it's a bit odd because of the verb 'notice'. If you say you've noticed something, it suggests you've either witnessed something happening or that you've just seen the result of an earlier action.

This is why 'I've noticed he broke it' sounds odd -- 'he broke it' is speaking about an action happening in the past but 'I've noticed' is speaking about witnessing something happening now.

Other combinations of the present perfect and past simple are possible. For example, 'I've eaten the salad you prepared'. I think the problem with the sentence you asked about has to do with the nature of the act of noticing something.

Does that make sense?

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you verty much, Kirk for your responses.
"She has stated that she worked hard during her previous tenure"
I think the above sentence would be correct. Please confirm it - whether it is correct or not.
"She has stated that she had worked hard during her previous tenure (or) when she was employed by her previous company."
Can we use a past perfect (had worked) with a present perfect (has stated)?
And please let me know which suffix (during her previous tenure (or) when she was employed by her previous company) would be relevant if we use a past perfect (had worked).
Hope, I am not too much demanding.
I am using the above examples (sentences) not only to correct my grammatical errors for those examples but also it will be helpful for me when I make similar sentences and try to express my views in English.
Hope, you understand.
And my last question is about the "adverbial function."
"The poem that spoke/speaks about it."
Here the conjunction "that" and the suffix "spoke about it" has an adverbial function? (beause the verb can be changed in it - spoke/speaks - I think, in a way it describes the poem).
Please let me know whether I am right in my thinking.
Thank you,
Regards,
kingson