📚 Past Perfect Tense

A2 - B1 Level

What is the Past Perfect?

The past perfect tense is used to talk about an action that happened before another action in the past.

Example: I had eaten breakfast before I went to school.

(First: I ate breakfast → Second: I went to school)

Form

✓ Affirmative

Subject + had + past participle

  • • I/You/He/She/It/We/They had finished
  • • She had studied English before she moved to London.
  • • They had left before we arrived.

✗ Negative

Subject + had not (hadn't) + past participle

  • • I/You/He/She/It/We/They had not (hadn't) finished
  • • He hadn't seen the movie before yesterday.
  • • We hadn't met before the party.

? Questions

Had + subject + past participle?

  • Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they finished?
  • Had you eaten dinner before the movie?
  • Had they arrived before the meeting started?

Signal Words

before

I had finished my homework before dinner.

after

After she had studied, she went to bed.

when

When I arrived, they had left.

already

He had already eaten.

never...before

I had never seen it before.

by the time

By the time she called, I had left.

Practice Exercises

Choose the correct answer for each sentence.

1. She _____ her homework before dinner.

2. They _____ to Paris after they saved enough money.

3. I _____ that movie before last night.

4. _____ you _____ breakfast before you left?

5. After he _____ the book, he watched the movie.

6. We _____ the house before the guests arrived.

7. She _____ her keys before she got home.

8. _____ they _____ the test before the teacher collected it?

Final Quiz

Choose between Present Perfect or Past Perfect for each sentence.

Pay attention to the signal words!

1. I _____ never _____ sushi before yesterday.

2. She _____ already _____ three cups of coffee today.

3. After we _____ dinner, we went for a walk.

4. They _____ just _____ the news.

5. Before she called me, she _____ her decision.

6. I _____ never _____ to London.

7. He _____ the email before the meeting started.

8. We _____ already _____ this movie.

9. After they _____ the project, they celebrated.

10. She _____ just _____ her homework.

11. Before I moved here, I _____ in Spain.

12. They _____ yet _____.

13. When I arrived, the train _____ already _____.

14. I _____ _____ my keys. I can't find them.

15. After she _____ English for 5 years, she moved to England.