Past Perfect Tense

The form

The Beatles had performed thousands of times before they came to America.
The form

The Beatles had performed thousands of times before they came to America.

Had + past participle

Observe

By the time Daniel started school, he had already had his first seizure.
Observe

By the time Daniel started school, he had already had his first seizure.

This action happened first

The time diagram

Older actions

Past perfect Past simple Present Future

Before now Later

Punctuation with the Past Perfect

Before Daniel published his memoir, he had already created his website.

Dependent clause (started

with a time word)

Daniel had already created his website before he published his memoir.

Independent clause
Past Perfect or Past Simple
As soon as Daniel had learned Lithuanian, he After and as soon as are used to introduce
was able to communicate more easily. the first event (past perfect).

The Beatles had performed more than 1,200 times Before and by the time are used to
by the time they came to America. introduce the second event (simple past).

Daniel had cooked dinner when Kim Peek arrived. When can be used to introduce either the
Daniel cooked dinner when Kim Peek had arrived. first or second event.

Adverbs often used with Past Perfect –

Daniel had just graduated when he decided to Already, Just, Never, Yet, and Ever
travel to France. By + a specific time/age (ex: by age
thirteen…)
 Complete the sentences:

When I ………………… (arrive), they …………… (already leave) the party. arrived – had already left

After he ………………… (learn) English, he …………… (start) traveling the Had learned – started
world.

As soon as she …………………. (discover) the illness, she ……………. (take) Had discovered – took
the right medicine.

Before we ………………… (work) together, we …………… (see) each other worked – had seen
a lot.