PAST PERFECT SIMPLE (had + past participle)

⦁ We use the past perfect simple when we are talking about the past
and we want to talk about an earlier past action. (an event which
happened before the main event)
⦁ To make it clear that one action happened before another in the
past. You can use time expressions like before, after, by the time, already,
etc. to show the order of actions.
⦁ The past perfect simple emphasizes the completion of an action
before the main event.
*When the order of actions is clear, we often use the past simple. e.g. I
rang the police after I saw the attack. /I rang the police after I'd seen the
attack.
⦁ We normally use 'state verbs' or 'thinking verbs' with the past
perfect simple. *State verbs - love, believe, understand, forget etc.
1. When I arrived at the airport, the plane had already taken off. /The
plane had already taken off when I arrived at the airport.
2. She was hungry because she hadn't eaten breakfast.
3. I was excited about my trip because I had never been to Paris before.
4. The store had closed by the time I arrived at the mall.
5. They'd left by the time we got there.
6. After I'd been in Toronto for two months, I finally got a job.
7. She'd published her first poem by the time she was eighteen.
8. We'd finished all the water before we were halfway up the mountain.
9. Had the parcel arrived when you called yesterday?
10. When the police arrived, the thief had escaped. /The thief had escaped
when the police arrived.
11. The bins had already been collected by the time I woke up.