The Past Perfect Tense is a verb tense that is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. It is also known as the pluperfect tense.
Here are some examples of how to use the past perfect tense:
- To talk about actions that happened before another action in the past: I had already eaten when you called.
- To talk about actions that were in progress before another action in the past: We had been playing tennis for an hour when it started to rain.
- To talk about actions that were completed before another action in the past: I had finished my homework before I went to bed.
Here are some rules for using the past perfect tense:
- The past perfect tense is formed with the past tense of the verb “to have” + the past participle of the verb. For example, “I had eaten” is the past perfect tense of the verb “to eat.”
- **The past perfect tense is used with time expressions that indicate the past, such as “before,” “by the time,” and “after.”
Here are some additional examples of the past perfect tense:
- I had finished my homework before I went to bed.
- They had already eaten when we arrived.
- She had been working for an hour when she finally finished.
- We had been waiting for you for an hour when you finally arrived.
- By the time I got to the store, they had already sold out of bread.