Grammar · intermediate
Past Perfect Tense
Talk about an action that happened before another past event.
12 min
Learn
- Past Perfect describes an action completed before another action in the past.
- Structure: had + past participle (V3).
- Often used with 'before', 'after', 'by the time'.
Examples
- She had finished her homework before dinner.
- By the time we arrived, the class had started.
- I had never seen the sea before that trip.
Practice
1. Choose the correct past perfect sentence.
2. By the time we reached, the movie ___.
Summary
- Use had + V3.
- It shows order of two past events.
- Pair it with time words.