To review: past perfect tense = S+ had+ past participle of the verb.
We use the past perfect simple tense when we are already talking about the past but we want talk about an even earlier past time.
- When I got to the station, the train had already left.
- While I was watching the film, I realised I had already seen it.
- I went to water the garden, but I noticed my husband had already watered.
Unreal Events
We talk about unreal events in the past perfect. (Events that did not happen)
- If you had studied harder, you would have passed the exam.
- If I had seen the error, I would have corrected it.
- I wish you had told me you were struggling.
How Long
We use the past perfect to say how long something continued up to a past moment. (Not the simple past)
- She told me it was five years since the car had been serviced.
- We found out the bank had been robbed twice in one year.
- I had had my car for ten years when I sold it.
First/second….. that….
This is a little more advanced. To say ‘it was the first time that…. we use the past perfect tense.
- It was the first time I’d flown on a plane.
- It was the second time he had asked me out.
- It was the fifth time he had seen the same film.
Click below for some practise exercises using the past perfect tense.
To learn how to make the past perfect simple tense, click here.
