---
# System prepended metadata

title: PAST PERFECT

---

:::warning
# PAST PERFECT
:::

FORM
: Past tense of __HAVE (had) + Past Participle__
  __had + past participle__


The Past Perfect is used to speak about:
When we're talking about something in the Past and we want to refer to an earlier past action or situation:

```
When I arrived at the cinema, the film had already started

[ -----------------------------------------------------x <---------------< |---------------------- ]
[ ------------------------------------- when I arrived | at the cinema ----|---------------------- ]
[ ---------------------x-------------------------------x-------------------|--------TIMELINE------ ]
[ ---- ...the film had | already started --------------x-------------------x---------------------- ]
[ ---------------------x <---------------------------< x----------------- now -------------------- ]

```

- I didn't recognise James because he had grown a beard and changed his hairstyle.
- Maria told me that she'd never been to an English-speaking country before coming here.
- I couldn't speak a word of Spanish to her because I hadn't practised it in years.

To say something finished before something else happened:
- My boss said I could go home as soon as I had finished writing the report.
- After I had done all my homework, I sat down and had a lovely cup of hot chocolate.

---

- an action that happened before another action in the past (something occurred before another action in the past)
- for duration before something that finished in the past
- (optional) for specific times in the past that happened before another action (Something happened before a specific
    time in the past)

**Examples:**

- The storm destroyed the sandcastle we had built. (The sandcastle was built first, then the storm destroyed it. Both actions happened in the past, one before the other.)
- The storm had lasted 45 minutes before it subsided. (Both actions happened in the past. The first action happened over a duration of time)
- She had visited her brother in Chicago once in 2007 before she moved there in 2010.
**OR:**
- She visited her brother in Chicago once in 2007 before she moved there in 2010. (Both actions happened in the past and are referring to specific events. Both version of the sentence are grammatically acceptable.)

> **Completed Action Before Something in the Past**

```
The meeting **had** already **started** by the time I **arrived**.

            Meeting
            started    I arrived
             here        here
[ -------------|-----------|----------|-----TIMELINE---------- ]
[ -------------|-----------|----------|----------------------- ]
[ --past----meeting-----arrived-----now---------------future-- ]

```
**Examples:**

- I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I visited Wales.
- I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.
- Tony knew Istanbul well because he had visited the city several times.
- Had Susan ever studied French before she moved to French ?
- She only understood the movie because she had read the book.
- Christine had never been to an opera before last night.
- We couldn't get a hotel room because we had not booked in advance.

> **Duration Before Something in the Past (Non-Continuous Verbs)**
With Non-Continuous Verbs and some non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Past Perfect to show
that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past.

```
They *had been* married for 3 years when they *divorced*.

    had been married
     for 3 years            divorced 
         here                 here
[ -----------|------------------|----------|-----TIMELINE---------- ]
[ -----------|------------------|----------|----------------------- ]
[ --past-----|<----3 years----->|---------now--------------future-- ]

```
**Examples:**

- We had owned that car **for ten years** before it broke down.
- By the time Alex finished his studies, he had been in London for over eight years.
- They felt bad about selling the house because they had owned it for more than forty years.

> When there are two past tense actions, we use the Past Perfect Tense on the action that happened first (unless there is a cause / effect relationship between the two actions):

- Joe **had been sleeping** for two hours when the phone **rang**. ( We can tell from the use of **had** that Joe was already asleep when the phone rang. The Past Perfect Tense clarifies which actions happened first when there is no mention of **before** or **after** in the sentence.)
- I had just sat down to have lunch when the phone rang.

```
[When Sheena finally *rang* Robbie, he *had already fallen asleep*  ]
[ ---------------------|----------------------|---TIMELINE--------- ]
[ ---------------------|----------------------|-------------------- ]
[ -----------------Past Simple-------------Past Perfect------------ ]

```
