past perfect simple
positive and negative forms
I /you / he/she/ we/ they
had/'d hadn't
[+past participle) done it.
questions
Had you I he / she done it?
Use the past perfect simple to describe a past event or situation and to show that another past event/situation happened earlier.
ft ,*
[ left my briefcase on the train.      I suddenly remembered it. now
1 suddenly remembered I'd left my briefcase on the train. Compare:
The doctor had already [eft when Jo arrived. (First the doctor left; then Jo arrived.) The doctor left when Jo arrived. (Jo arrived; after that, the doctor left.)
Already is used with perfect tenses to emphasize that something happened earlier. It usually goes between had and the past participle.
I'd already gone to bed when Dan came home,
In sentences with the conjunctions before and after, the order of events is often clear, so the past perfect is optional.
The accident (had) happened before we arrived.
The past perfect is often used after verbs related to thinking e.g. remember, realize, discover, wonder, find out, learn, think.
1 realized we'd met somewhere before. I found out later that he'd lied to me.
qo to exercises 12.1 and 12.2
cover & check exercises
12.1 Which explanation is correct? Tick / the box.
1 When I got to the bank it had already closed.
A □ The bank closed before I arrived. B □ I arrived and then the bank closed.
2 I arrived at the party but John had left. A □ I arrived and then John left.
B □ First John left, then I arrived.
3 The lesson had already started when there was a power cut.
A □ First there was a power cut, then the lesson started.
B □ The lesson started, then there was a power cut.
12.2 Correct the errors where necessary. Some sentences are correct.
1 I couldn't go to the restaurant because I spent all my money.
2 When I had arrived, the others had already left.
3 I gave him the money before he asked me for it.
4 When the film started, I realized I saw it a year ago.
5 I thought he'd been to Italy before, but I was wrong.