The Past Perfect Tense

States an action was completed at a certain point of time in the past. past . Refers to two periods of time , one action being completed before the other took place. place . We use the Past Perfect when we wish to stress that one action or situation in the past occurred before another action or situation in the past. past .

Examples :

I had left the house before he arrived. arrived . She had gone to bed when I reached home. home . He read the book that I had bought . bought.

Each of the above sentences shows two actions. actions .

First action completed I had left the house She had gone to bed I had bought the book

Second action took place Before he arrived When I reached home He read it. it .

More examples/rules using the regular verb arrive and the irregular verb eat . eat. Subject I HAVE had Past Participle arrived eaten contraction Id arrived Id eaten

You

had

arrived eaten

Youd arrived Youd eaten

The list goes on. on .