Past Perfect: the past before the past

What had you done before visiting our blog? Did you realize the importance of grammar, or just enjoy a delicious coffee? For actions that happened before other past events, we use the Past Perfect tense.

For example: I had already eaten when I felt like reading a grammar article. In such cases, the Perfect tense helps clearly define what happened first. First, I ate and then I wanted to study grammar.

In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about this tense — and, of course, practice with exercises to reinforce your learning.

Contents

1. What is the Past Perfect
2. How to form the Past Perfect: formula and examples
3. When to use the Past Perfect: rules and examples
4. Common time markers
5. Practice exercise to reinforce the Past Perfect rules
6. FAQs

What is the Past Perfect 

The Past Perfect tense is one of the English tenses used to describe an action that was completed by a specific moment in the past. That’s why it is often used together with the Past Simple.

For example: By the time I arrived, she had already left.

• Arrived — Simple — an action in the past that happened later;
• Had left — Perfect — an action that precedes another in the past. 

It is obvious that she left first, and then I arrived.

This tense is often used in examples of conversations about experiences or plans. Let's take a closer look.

How to form the Past Perfect: formula and examples

When to use the Past Perfect: rules and examples

Examples of Past Perfect are used in English to indicate events that occurred before other actions in the past. This tense helps clearly convey the sequence of events and makes the narrative logical. This tense is often found in stories, memories and explanations of cause-and-effect relationships. Next, let's review the main rules for using Past Perfect with examples that will help you better understand its role in speech.

1. Two actions in the past — when it's important to highlight that one action happened before another:

• After she had finished her work, she went home.
• By the time the train arrived, we had waited for two hours.
• He had already eaten breakfast before he left for work.

2. Experience by a specific point in the past — describing what had been done before a certain time:

• She had visited ten countries by the age of 30.
• They had never tried sushi until they went to Japan.
• I had completed the project before the boss asked for it.

3. After verbs like explained, realized, understood, etc. The formula of Past Perfect tense is often used to emphasize that the action was completed before the moment of realization, understanding, or explanation:

• He explained that he had already sent the email.
• They understood why the team had failed the project.
• I realized I had made a mistake in the report.

4. Reported speech. When a verb (say/tell/inform…) in indirect speech is used in the past tense, any tense from direct speech also shifts to the past:

• He said: «I love you» → He said that he loved her.

But what happens if the direct speech was already in the past tense? Then the Perfect tense is used in indirect speech when the direct speech was in the Past Simple tense:

• I finished my work. → She said she had finished her work.
• We didn’t know about it. → They said they had not known about it.
• He arrived late. → She mentioned that he had arrived late.

If the sentence in Direct Speech is already in the Perfect tense, then there is no need to change the tense:

• I had finished my work before they arrived. → She said that she had finished her work before they arrived.

5. The third type of conditional sentences. Conditionals are used to talk about what could have happened under different circumstances in the past, but didn't happen. In the if-part of the sentence, «had + V3/ed» is used to express a hypothetical past — for example, «If only I had... back then...»

If + had Ved/3, would + have + V3/ed

• If he had studied harder, he would have passed the exam.
• If they had left earlier, they would have caught the bus.
• If I had known about the meeting, I would have attended it.

Common time markers

This tense is often accompanied by time markers that help determine the sequence of events. They indicate that one action happened before another. Using these time markers makes the narrative clearer and more understandable. Let's take a look at the most common time markers:

Practice exercise to reinforce the Past Perfect rules

The exercise below will help you better understand this tense. In each sentence, the verb in its base form is given in the brackets. Your task is to correctly change the verb to show the sequence of events.

If you are not tired yet, we suggest you deepen your knowledge of the past tenses in English even further:

• Past Simple
• Past Continuous
• Past Perfect Continuous
• Past tenses

FAQs

1. Can the Past Perfect tense be used to express a result?

Yes, this tense is often used to emphasize that one event influenced another in the past.

• She was tired because she had been working all day.

2. How to contract «had»?

3. How to understand if the contraction «'d» stands for «had» or «would»?

• If «'d» is used with the verb in the third form (V3), then it stands for «had»:
  ​​She'd (had) already left when I arrived.

• If «'d» is used with the infinitive, then it is a contraction of «would»:
  If I were rich, I'd (would) travel around the world.

• In the third type of conditional sentences, had + Ved/3 is used in the if-part, and in the result part — would have + V3. Therefore, both contractions can appear in the same sentence:
  If I'd (had) known, Iʼd (would) have helped.

4. What is the difference between Past Simple and Perfect rules?

• The Simple Tense describes past events in the order in which they happened sequentially:
  I ate breakfast and then went to work.

• The Perfect tense, on the other hand, emphasizes that one action was completed before another:
  I had eaten breakfast before I went to work.

5. Is Past Perfect used in spoken English?

Yes, but less frequently than in written language. In conversation, native speakers sometimes simplify sentences and use Past Simple if the order of events is clear.

• Full sentence:
  I had already seen that movie before we talked about it.

• Simplified sentence:
  I already saw that movie before we talked about it.