Is a verb tense used to talk about action that were completed before some other action is the past.
The past perfect simple is formed with:
Affirmative: Subj+had+past participle.
Negative: Subj+had+not+past participle.
Question: Had+Subj+past participle.
The use:
We use the past perfect simple when we have tow actions in the past, one happened before the other, the first action is in the past perfect and the second is in the simple past.
Examples:
2) Imagine you are late for work on the day of an important meeting:
- The meeting started at 8:00
- You arrived at 8:15.
2) I had studied English for several years before I traveled to the U.S
3) I hadn’t studied English before I traveled to the U.S.
4) Had you studied English before you traveled to the U.S.?
Signal Words for the Past Perfect:
by the time + simple past.
→ By the time we arrived at the airport, our flight had left.
when.
→ When we arrived at the airport, our flight had left.
before + simple past.
→ Before we arrived at the airport, our flight had left.
after + past perfect → We arrived at the airport after our flight had left.
already )past perfect( → When we arrived at the airport, our flight had already left.
