Past Perfect Tense – Everything You Need to Know
The Past Perfect tense, also called the preterite perfect or past perfect simple, is one of the past tenses in English. It allows us to determine the chronology of events – to use it, we must refer to at least two points in past time.
The structure of the Past Perfect Simple isn’t difficult; it resembles the Present Perfect, yet it often poses a challenge for English language learners.
When is the Past Perfect Tense used?
The Past Perfect tense is used to describe an action that finished before another event or a specific point in the past, in other words – we show that one thing was done before another in the past.
Usage 1
We use the Past Perfect tense when talking about past events that lasted for some time and finished before a specific moment or event in the past.
Examples of sentences in the Past Perfect Simple
- We had eaten all the cookies before we even left the house.
- They had spent half their budget before booking the band.
- She had won seven gold medals by the time she was 25.
Usage 2
Another use of the Past Perfect tense is when we talk about the earlier of two actions that took place in the past.
Examples of sentences in the Past Perfect
- When I left work, it had already started to rain.
- By the time he refreshed the page, the tickets had been sold out.
- By the time Tomek got to work, the meeting had already finished.
Usage 3
The Past Perfect tense is also used when talking about experiences that happened for the first time, before a specific moment or event in the past.
Examples of sentences in the Past Perfect Simple
- I had never swum with sharks before I went to South Africa.
- Paweł had never seen such high waves before.
- It was the first time that I had ordered snails.
