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 Tony,
That looks absolutely fine to me. The verb forms here relate to one another rather than to the broader context, so 'had sent' is fixed in time by '...before leaving the country', not by all the actions earlier in the paragraph. The last action described ('...refused to ring') suggests that he is still waiting for the phone to ring - i.e. this action takes us up to the present in a narrative sense. The past perfect here would make it clear that the chances of his phone ringing have passed.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you, Peter. Now it's clear.
Greetings sir,
I often get confused with the usage of past perfect and present perfect when words like 'since' and 'for' come in a sentence. Please do clarify my doubt.
Thank you.
Hello drbindurekab,
We use for with a period of time: for six weeks, for an hour, for twenty minutes.
We use since with a point in time: since two days ago, since Thursday, since 6.00.
You can read more about this on this page:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/for-or-since
When used with perfect forms these words tell us how long or from which moment an action takes place. The present perfect describes an action continuing up to the present and the past perfect describes an action continuing up to another point in the past:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you so much sir
Hello
Brazil and Real Madrid star Ronaldo is one of the world's greatest footballers - but his career almost ¹ ended (end) at the age of 23, when he was playing in Italy. In November 2001, Ronaldo 2 ran (run) onto the pitch to play for Inter Milan against Lecce. The fans 3 cheered (cheer); he hasn't played - didn't play 4 (not play) for almost two years, since he 5 has damaged - damaged (damage) his knee - also against Lecce. But the crowd went silent after 17 minutes of the match when their hero 6 had fallen down (fall down) and 7 hadn't gotten up (not get up). He 8 injured (injure) his knee again. Even the players on the other team 9 were (be) unhappy when Ronaldo had left (leave) the field.
Would you mind checking this passage for me? I have difficulty in understanding past perfect and present perfect so, would you please help me
Thanks,
Hello Mariam Frank,
Generally we don't check answers like this as we would just end up not having time for anything else if we tried! Also, we would end up doing people's homework for them, which isn't our role.
You didn't complete some questions:
4 - hadn't played
5 - damaged
Answers 1-3 are good. Answer 9 is good.
6 should be fell down
7 should be didn't get up
8 should be had injured
10 should be left
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Sir,
1 We arrived before the train had left. In this sentence, 'we arrived' happens first and then 'the train left', while the past perfect means 'the train left' first. Is there a contradiction to the use of the past perfect tense?
2 what's the difference between these two sentences, or do they mean the same?
We arrived before the train had left.
We arrived before the train left.
Thanks,
Karen
Hello Karen,
There is no difference in meaning between the sentences here as 'before' already makes the sequence clear. The past perfect suggests more of a connection between the two events - perhaps they wanted to catch the train or to see someone before they left. The past simple may also mean this or it may simply indicate a simple sequence.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Good evening, sir
Look at these sentences and say which of them is correct.
1.No teacher ever told me that I had potential.
2.No teacher never told me that I had potential.