Mastering the past perfect tense in English

We use the past perfect tense to show that one action in the past happened before another. It clarifies the order of two past events or highlights the duration of a past event up to a specific time in the past. It helps you to tell stories, which is a huge part of our day-to-day communication. 

While it’s considered one of the more advanced English tenses, using the past perfect tense accurately in exams can give you an edge. It can also make your speech and writing appear more professional, and it’s key in academic writing. 

In this article, we’re looking at how to form the past perfect tense, which adverbs it often appears with, how and when to use it, and, crucially, when to avoid it. 

• What is the past perfect tense?
• How to form the past perfect tense
• How to make the past perfect negative
• How to ask questions in the past perfect tense
• Examples of past perfect in context
• When NOT to use the past perfect tense
• The role of "just" and other modifiers
• Common mistakes learners make with the past perfect
• FAQs

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What is the past perfect tense?

The past perfect simple tense is one of the 12 English tenses, and one of the four used to talk about the past..It’s used to show the sequence of two past events, with the past perfect marking the earlier one. It applies to both states and actions, including those that happen repeatedly. You can also use the past perfect to talk about how long something lasted up to a particular moment in the past.

It’s often called a “narrative tense” because of how useful it is for storytelling. It helps set a timeline and clearly indicates when things happened in relation to one another.

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How it works

How to form the past perfect tense

The formula

The structure of the past perfect simple tense is had + past participle, or more fully, subject + had + past participle verb form. We use had with all subjects, for example: 

• I had
• You had
• She had
• They had

Common regular & irregular verbs

Remember that regular past participles are formed by adding -ed to a verb in the base form.

• ask → asked
• call → called
• start → started

These verb endings can be pronounced in three different ways. 

1. /ɪd/ after t or d sounds (forming an extra syllable)

→ started, wanted, needed

1. /t/ after unvoiced sounds like k, p, s, sh, ch, th, f

→ asked, helped, passed

1. /d/ after voiced sounds (everything else except t/d)

→ called, played, opened

Example sentences

• I had asked him before. 
• We had called him earlier. 

There are also many irregular verbs in English. Here are some of the most common ones with their past participle form: 

• be → been
• come → come
• go → gone/been
• have → had
• know → known
• speak → spoken
• understand → understood

Example sentences

• They had been together for 50 years by 2020. 
• I had spoken to him before. 

How to make the past perfect negative

To form a negative sentence in the past perfect simple, we use the structure had not + past participle. We often contract had not to hadn’t in informal speech and writing. 

Example sentences

• I had not opened the present. 
• They hadn’t been to Greece before. 

How to ask questions in the past perfect tense

To form questions in the past perfect simple, we invert the subject and had. For yes/no questions, the structure is Had + subject + past participle?

• Had you met before?

To form wh-questions in the past perfect simple, we place the question word before had. 

• What had he done?
• Where had she been?

Examples of past perfect in context

At a job interview

I’d already done internships at three different companies by the time I finished university. 

I had worked at the company for two years before I was promoted to a managerial position.  

In storytelling

She had just stepped onto the stage when suddenly, the lights went out! 

My wife and I had always wanted to visit Australia, so when we retired, we booked a trip.

Ava: How was your weekend away?

Liam: It was great! But we had a bit of a scare on the way there.

Ava: Oh no, what happened?

Liam: Well, we’d already left the city when I realized I had forgotten my wallet.

Ava: Seriously? 

Liam: Yeah, but luckily Emma had brought some cash, and I’d booked the hotel online the night before. So we were okay.

News report

The country had undergone years of political unrest before the revolution.   

Past perfect vs. simple past 

When talking about two past actions, use the past perfect for the earlier event and the past simple for the later one. Here’s an example: 

• By the time she arrived at the airport, her flight had already taken off. 

By the time is a very common phrase in the past perfect tense. 

Now, compare these sentences. Which shows that the children finished their homework before I got home? 

• When I got home, my children finished their homework. 
• When I got home, my children had finished their homework. 

The children finished before I got home in the second one. In the first, I got home and then they finished their homework. 

When NOT to use the past perfect tense

We don’t tend to use the past perfect tense when the order of events is clear from the context. In that case, we usually use the past simple. For example: 

• First, we went to the cinema and then we had dinner. 
• He said goodbye to everyone before he left. 

The order of events is very clear from the words first, then and before, so it’s not necessary to use the past perfect.

The role of "just" and other modifiers

In the past perfect tense, modifiers like just, already, never, and yet help to clarify timing, emphasis, and nuance in relation to a past event. 

• Just emphasizes that something happened a very short time before another past action. 

Ex. She had just left the office when the phone rang.

• Already highlights that something was completed earlier than expected. 

Ex. He’d already finished dinner when I arrived. 

• Never adds a sense of surprise or emphasis about something that hadn’t happened at any time before a specific past moment. 

Ex. I’d never seen snow before my trip to Canada. 

• Yet is used in negative sentences and questions to ask or state whether something had happened up to that point. 

Ex. When we left the house, the mail hadn’t arrived yet. 

Common mistakes learners make with the past perfect

1. Forgetting had

Learners sometimes forget to add had in the past perfect tense. 

• I been to the UK before. ❌

This structure, without had, is common in some English dialects, but it’s not standard. Don’t misplace had when using the past perfect! 

1. Overusing the past perfect

We explained above that it’s more appropriate to use the past simple tense when the order of events is clear. We also don’t use the past perfect when we have a chain of unrelated events. 

We usually use the past simple for this:  

• I woke up, ate breakfast, and went to work. 

Having a native-level teacher is key when you’re trying to learn how and when to use the past perfect (and any other tenses) accurately. If you’re trying to learn English, Lingoda’s native speaking teachers not only know instinctively which tense should be used, but they can also explain why and provide plenty of examples. 

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How it works

Past perfect vs. pluperfect: Is there a difference?

In English, the tenses referred to as the past perfect and the pluperfect are the same. Modern textbooks and courses tend to use the term past perfect. The same is true in other languages: the past perfect in German (Plusquamperfekt) might also be referred to as the pluperfect in English.

What is an example of past perfect vs past simple?

When I got home, my children had already eaten all the cake. (They ate it before I got there.)

When I got home, my children and I ate the cake. (We ate it together after I arrived home.)

What are the keywords for the past perfect?

A sentence containing had + -ed verb is in the past perfect. By the time is often a key indicator of this tense. 

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Past perfect tense, future fluent you 

The past perfect tense helps you express the order and duration of past events, and it adds clarity to storytelling, professional communication, and academic writing. You now know how to form it, when to use it, and just as importantly, when not to.

If you want to take your grammar and fluency to the next level, Lingoda offers small group classes with native-level teachers who provide expert feedback and real-life examples. Learn to speak from day one, build confidence through practice, and enjoy flexible scheduling to suit your lifestyle. Start using advanced grammar like the past perfect naturally and accurately. Your future fluent self will thank you.

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