The past perfect tense

The past perfect tense forms are made with had + past participle.

Affirmative

I had written a letter.
She had written a letter.

Negative

I had not written a letter.
She had not written a letter.

Question

Had I written a letter?
Had she written a letter?

Uses

The past perfect tense is used to talk about an action completed before another past action commenced.

The patient had died before the doctor arrived.
I had finished the work before I went to bed.
She had finished her studies before she got married.
I realized that I had met her before.
After he had finished his studies he went to France.
The train had left before I reached the station.

Cases where the past perfect tense is not used

The past perfect tense is not used simply to say that something happened some time ago. That meaning is usually expressed by the simple past tense.

I saw him yesterday. (NOT I had seen him yesterday.)

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Tags: past perfect, past perfect tense, tense, tenses

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