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.

Submitted by kingsonselvaraj on Sun, 16/04/2023 - 03:22

Permalink

Dear Team,

What is the difference between the following two sentences?

1. If I had money, I would have bought it.
2. If I had had money, I would have bought it.

Please help me in this regard.
Thank you,
kingson

Hello kingsonselvaraj,

Both of these sentences describe a past action which did not happen ("I would have bought it"); the difference is in the cause expressed in the if-clause.

In the second sentence, the speaker did not have money at the time. They may be rich now and they may have been rich before, but at the time they could have bought the item they did not have money.

In the first sentence, the speaker is not wealthy enough in general. This is not a sentence about a particular moment but rather a general statement about their life - they are not a wealthy person.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you very much, Peter for your answer.

Please let me know, is there any difference between the following two sentences.

1. If I had money, I would buy it.

2. If I had had money, I would buy it.

Thank you,

Regards,

kingson

Hello kingson,

The first sentence is fine. It describes an imagined alternative present. You don't have the money and therefore can't buy it.

The second sentence does not make sense. The first part (the if-clause) describes an unreal past situation; the second describes an unreal present situation. Grammatically, this is fine, but in terms of the particular meaning of this example it is problematic. To buy something in the present you need to have the money. Why would past possession (completed past time) influence your ability to buy something in the present?

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Peter,

Thanks for your answer.
in that case, is the following sentence correct?
Ex: If he had not broken the glass, he would not fix it. (I hope, the particular meaning of this example is not problematic, here)
Please help me in this regard.
Thanks,
kingson

Hello again kingson,

The sentence is grammatically correct. It describes a counter-factual past (he did break the glass; we are imagining an alternative) and the present or future resulting from that. The implication is that he will fix the glass and therefore we can assume that he did, in fact, break it. The sentence could be an answer to the question 'How do you know it was him who broke the glass?'

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear kingsonselvaraj The two sentences use different verb tenses to express different hypothetical situations. The first sentence uses a mixed second and third conditional, which is used to describe an unreal or hypothetical situation in the present or future. The sentence "If I had money, I would have bought it" suggests that the speaker does not currently have the money to buy something, and therefore cannot buy it. The second sentence uses the third conditional, which is used to describe an unreal or hypothetical situation in the past. The sentence "If I had had money, I would have bought it" suggests that at a certain point in the past, the speaker did not have the money to buy something and therefore did not buy it. This sentence is often used to express regret about a missed opportunity. In short, the first sentence talks about a hypothetical situation in the present or future, while the second sentence talks about a hypothetical situation in the past.

Submitted by Maya4aa on Sun, 02/04/2023 - 13:00

Permalink

Hello there. When I was practicing for my test I saw a sentence that I wasn't sure how to solve. I asked a friend for help yet we are still confused. The sentence goes like this: I would have spoken to her If _____ (be) there with you. I answered with had been and he with were there with you. Which would be correct since this is a sentence that reminds me of the third conditional.

Hello Maya4aa,

Both answers are correct. Using 'had been' makes it a third conditional structure and 'were' makes it a mixed conditional. You can see more about this on our Conditionals 2 page.

All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team