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
Hi again Andi,
The past perfect needs to be an action before another action in the past which in some way influences the later action. It doesn't matter if you're talking about a long action or a short one, a period of time or a point in time. For example:
Generally we use 'the previous year' with past perfect as we are looking back from the past:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Peter
1)It still hadn’t rained at the beginning of May.
2)We had been playful last year/last week.
In your comment you say that in the first sentence the speaker is referring to an action happening before May. But can’t we say the same for the second sentence that the speaker is referring to an action before last year/week? Why do you say that it needs another point in time? Isn’t ’at the beginning of May’ the same as ‘last year/week in terms of being both a point in time?
Andi
Hi again Andi,
The phrase 'at the beginning of May' gives us a past time before which the event (rain) occurred (or didn't occur in this case).
The phrase 'last year' gives us a past time during which the action happened.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi LearnEnglish Team
It had been years since I had ridden a bike.
I’m really struggling to find the first action that took place here. Can you please elaborate.
Thanks in advance
Andi
Hello Andi,
The person rode a bike (first) and then years passed without riding a bike (second). However, for the past perfect to make sense here there needs to be another action which is later in the past. The sentence is clearly taken out of context which is why that third action is missing.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi LearnEnglish Team
Heidi Hankins aged 4 sat an iq test after staff at her nursery 1)had said / 2)were saying she was so intelligent they were struggling to find activities to challenge her.
Which is the wrong verb form here and why ?
I know that the past perfect is correct here but the past continuous seems fine to me as well.
Thank you in advance
Andi
Hi Andi,
Both forms are possible and so is the past simple (said).
The past perfect makes it clear that first the staff gave their opinion and then in response Heidi took the test. The past simple expressed a sequence (first they spoke and then she took the test) but does not necessarily make this connection, though a reader would probably assume that this was the case from the context. The past continuous tells us that the staff did not just give their opinion once but did so either repeatedly or over an extended period of time.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello! Can you help me check if the answers I’ve given in this exercise are correct? I have to choose the correct tense of the verb in parenthesis. It could be any tense. Some of them, I think, require a past perfect, but I’m not sure.
"I (arrive) arrived home last night to find that my house (flood) had flooded. Someone (forget) had forgotten (turn) to turn off the bathroom tap, and water (pour) was pouring out the whole day. Before (phone) phoning the plumber I checked (see) to see that the electricity supply was turned off, because I didn’t want there (be) to be a fire as well as a flood."
Hello Teresa,
Your answers are good, though I would probably say 'Someone forgot to turn off the tap and water had been pouring out ...'. But it kind of depends on how you choose to describe the situation.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi Kirk
At your response to Teresa you say that both past perfect and past continuous are possible.
Water had been pouring out / water was pouring out.
But doesn’t past perfect tell us an action happening before the moment of speaking, and the past continuous an action at the moment of speaking which cannot be the case here because the water started pouring out before she arrived at her apartment?
Thanks in advance
Andi