Past Perfect Tense

The “past of the past”

The past perfect tense describes an action that happened
before another past event:

She had cleaned the house when I arrived.

John had left the office when I called.

I hadn’t finished the homework when the class started.

Form:
subject + had + past participle
I had done the homework.

She had been to China.

We had watched that movie before.

Negative and Interrogative:
I hadn’t cleaned my car when you arrived.

He hadn’t done anything wrong yet.

You hadn’t told me that at the time.

Had he seen her when the party began?

Had you written a letter before?

Had she learned any foreign language before English?

Let’s practice:
When I arrived at the movies, the film __________. (to start)
When I arrived at the movies, the film had started.

She ___________ (to live) in China before she moved to Japan.

She had lived in China before she moved to Japan.

After they ___________(to eat) the shellfish, they began to feel sick.
After they had eaten the shellfish, they began to feel sick.

If you ___________(to listen) to me, you would have got the job.
If you had listened to me, you would have got the job.
Let’s practice:
Julie didn’t arrive until after I ____________(to leave).
Julie didn’t arrive until after I had left.

When we ___________ (to finish) dinner, we went out.

When we had finished dinner, we went out.

We were late for the plane because we ___________ (to forget) our passports.
We were late for the plane because we had forgotten our passports.

He ____________(to meet) her somewhere before.

He had met her somewhere before.