The past perfect tense is used to describe an action that was completed before another action or point in time in the past. It is formed using “had” followed by the past participle of the main verb.
Structure:
Subject + had + past participle
Examples:
- Before another action in the past:
- Example: By the time she arrived, the train had left.
- Explanation: The train’s departure happened before her arrival.
- To show the order of events:
- Example: I had finished my homework before I went out to play.
- Explanation: Finishing homework occurred before going out to play.
- In reported speech:
- Example: He said that he had seen the movie already.
- Explanation: Seeing the movie happened before the time of speaking.
Usage:
- To indicate that one action in the past happened before another.
- To provide clarity in the sequence of events.
- Commonly used with conjunctions like “before,” “after,” “by the time,” and “when.”
Past simple helps us to talk about an action that happened in the past; when we talk about an action that took place just before that we use Past Perfect. Past perfect helps us to understand that an action was completed in the past before another action took place.
Past Perfect v Past Simple:
💡 The difference between Past Simple and Past Perfect
Past Simple tells the story in chronological order, Past Perfect, however, allows us to tell the story and not use chronological order.
- Past Perfect When I arrived at the university, the students had gone already. (The students went home before I arrived)
- Past Simple When I arrived at the university, the students went home. (I arrived, then the students left)
When do we use it? to indicate that one action that happened in the past took place before another action in the past.
More examples:
When I arrived home I realised that the cleaner had cleaned the house.
When he saw what had happened he became greatly distressed.
He was worried he had woken you up.
They reported to the police that all their cars had been stolen.
They reported what had happened.
He remembered the promise he had made.
They got married in December. They had met at a conference 3 months earlier.
When she got pregnant, she had already stopped smoking. (She stopped smoking and then randomly got pregnant.)
When she got pregnant she stopped smoking. (She got pregnant and as a result, she stopped smoking)
Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous has a similar application to Past Perfect, it talks about an action in the past and an action that happened before that. Past Perfect Continuous, however, refers to longer actions or activities that are repeated.
Examples:
When I woke up I realised that it had been raining all night.
I went to the doctor because I had been having headaches.