We use the Past Perfect tense to show that an action in the past finished before another action in the past started. The past perfect tense is formed with the past tense of the verb have (had) and the past participle of the verb.
Uses
- To express a completed action before another action in the past
e.g. He had reached home before I started cooking.
- To express third conditional
e.g. If you had studied harder, you would have passed the exam.
- To express reported speech
e.g. Jack said he had been to Paris.
- To express dissatisfaction with the past.
e.g. I wish I had reached here before.
Rules
‘Had’ is used with all type of subjects.
Positive form: Subject + had + 3rd form of Verb + object
Examples:
- He had bought his lunch already.
- I had finished my work on time.
- They had ordered pizza for dinner.
Negative form: Subject + has / have + 3rd form of Verb + object
Examples:
- I had not reached office when the meeting started.
- She had not cooked food.
- Kylee had not paid the phone bill.
Interrogative form: Had + subject + 3rd form of Verb + object + ?
Examples:
- Had you told him that would not come today?
- Had she bought the grocery?
- Had they reached station on time?
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