Past Perfect

Exercises

Explanation

1. Form

Affirmative

had + past participle (V3)
Use had for all subjects (I, you, he, she, we, they).

• I had closed the window before the storm started.

• She had written the email by the time her boss arrived.

• They had saved enough money to buy a new laptop.

Negative

had not (hadn’t) + past participle

• I hadn’t finished the book when the library closed.

• He hadn’t learned the rules before the match began.

• We hadn’t booked the tickets before the prices increased.

Questions

Had + subject + past participle?

• Had you visited the city before last winter?

• Had he repaired the bicycle before the race?

Wh- Questions

Wh-word + had + subject + V3?

• Where had she hidden the documents?

• What had they planned before the meeting started?

2. When Do We Use the Past Perfect?

A. To show one past action happened before another

Use Past Perfect for the first action and Past Simple for the second.

• She had locked the door before she went to bed.

• Lucas had studied French before he moved to Paris.

• They had left the café by the time I arrived.

This structure helps us show the correct order, even if we tell the events in a different sequence.

B. To describe a past result

The action is already completed, and we see its effect in the past.

• She was relaxed because she had finished all her tasks.

• The streets were empty because the shops had closed early.

• He felt confident because he had practised for weeks.

3. Common Time Expressions for the Past Perfect

These expressions help identify the earlier past action:

• before

• after

• by / by the time (by 11 a.m., by that evening, by the end of the year)

• never before

• hardly… when

• no sooner… than

Examples:

• They had left by the time the train arrived.

• I had never visited that museum before last autumn.

• By the time we reached the stadium, the game had begun.

4. Hardly / No Sooner

These expressions emphasize that one action happened immediately after another.
They require inversion (Had + subject + V3).

Hardly… when

• Hardly had the film started when the screen froze.

No sooner… than

• No sooner had I sat down than the phone rang.

Both structures appear more often in formal or written English.

Quick Summary

The Past Perfect is especially useful when telling stories, giving explanations, or describing events in chronological order. It helps your listener understand what happened first and makes your narrative clearer and more precise.