Past perfect tense: when to use it

The earlier of two past actions: "I had finished my homework before my friends came round."

Up to a point in the past: "By 2015, the company had opened fifty stores."

Reasons and explanations for a past situation: "She was upset because she had failed the test."

Reported speech, after a past reporting verb: "He said he had lost his ticket."

The third conditional: "If I had known, I would have helped."

Common signal words are by the time, before, after, already, just, never... before and when.

With before and after, the order is already clear, so the past simple is often fine: "After she left, I tidied up" and "After she had left, I tidied up" are both correct. With when, the tense changes the meaning.

• Wrong: I had gone to Shimla last summer.

  Right: I went to Shimla last summer.

  A single past event with a finished time takes the past simple.

• Wrong: When I reached the hall, the exam already started.

  Right: When I reached the hall, the exam had already started.

  The exam started before I reached the hall, so it needs the past perfect.

• Wrong: She had wrote the email before lunch.

  Right: She had written the email before lunch.

  After had, use the past participle (written), not the past form (wrote).

• Wrong: If I would have studied, I would have passed.

  Right: If I had studied, I would have passed.

  The if-clause of the third conditional takes the past perfect.

In IELTS Writing Task 1, the past perfect is useful with by: "By 2010, the number of users had doubled." In IELTS Speaking Part 2, it helps you give background to a story ("I had never flown before, so I was nervous"). In PTE Retell Lecture, it can show which of two past events came first. Use it where the order matters, not as a fancier past simple.

Try each one, then open it to check your answer.

1. 1. Complete this: "When I opened the fridge, someone ___ (eat) my cake."

   had eaten

   The eating happened before I opened the fridge.

2. 2. Choose: "I (lost / had lost) my wallet yesterday."

   lost

   It is a single past event with a finished time, so the past simple is enough.

3. 3. Form a question: you / ever / visit / Goa / before 2020?

   Had you ever visited Goa before 2020?

   Before 2020 makes 2020 the past reference point.

4. 4. Complete this: "By the end of the course, she ___ (learn) 2,000 new words."

   had learned (or had learnt)

   By sets a past point, and the learning was complete before it.

5. 5. Report this: He said, "I have finished."

   He said (that) he had finished.

   After a past reporting verb, the present perfect usually moves back to the past perfect.

• Past simple tense
• Past perfect continuous tense
• Present perfect tense
• Conditionals
• Direct and indirect speech
• Tenses
• All grammar lessons
• Everyday English sentences