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Course: French English Spanish Greek
Explanations in: Greek English Spanish French
B1

The past perfect (had + past participle)

«I had already eaten»: an action before another action in the past.

Form: had + past participle, for every person. It shows that one past action happened before another.

  • When I arrived, the film had already started.
    first the film started, then I arrived
  • She told me she had lost her keys.
    she lost them before telling me
  • I had never seen the sea before that trip.
    experience up to a past moment

There is also a past perfect continuous: I had been waiting for an hour when she arrived.

Test yourself

  1. Complete: By the time we got there, they (leave).
    Show answer
    had left
  2. Complete: He (already / eat) when I called.
    Show answer
    had already eaten
  3. Complete: I (wait) for two hours when he called. (continuous)
    Show answer
    had been waiting
  4. Complete: I (never / fly) before 2015.
    Show answer
    had never flown