Past perfect: what had happened before? Past perfect exercises for the earlier past action
About this lesson
This B1 drill lesson gives past perfect exercises for the earlier of two past actions: had + past participle, negatives, questions with short answers, and by the time.
- Grammar
- Had + past participle for every person, I'd and hadn't, What had happened?, and when + past simple vs past perfect.
- Topic
- A missed flight: Marisol's insurance claim after her taxi got stuck in traffic, her blog post, her email to Teo and Teo's reply, and a chat with Odile.
- Activities
- True or false, sorting, gap-fills, a memory game, tables, drag-and-drop, word order, matching, quizzes and a chat, every one marked automatically.
What's inside
Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: past perfectGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the sentences: past simple, present perfect or past perfect?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose the right form: had + past participleChoose the optionUnlock
- Write the short formsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2Had + past participle
- Find the matching pairs: verb and past participleMemory gameUnlock
- Fill in the table: three forms of the verbFill in the tableTry it
- Fill in the gaps: had + past participleFill in the gapsUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: what had happened?Drag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endingsMatchUnlock
- Read about Lorcan's morning and fill in the gaps: past perfectFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 3Negatives and questions
- Fill in the gaps: negative sentences in the past perfectFill in the gapsTry it
- Fill in the table: positive, negative, questionFill in the tableUnlock
- Write the questions: Had …?Fill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the right short answerChoose the optionUnlock
- Put the words in order to make questionsUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the right question for each answerQuizUnlock
- Match the questions and the answersMatchUnlock
Chapter 4Which came first?
- Choose the right answer: which happened first?QuizUnlock
- Choose the right form: past simple or past perfect?Choose the optionTry it
- Match the sentences and their meaningsMatchUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: by the time + past perfectFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: already, just, never … beforeFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Florian's story and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: Too late to fly
- Read Marisol's insurance claimReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the claim again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read Marisol's blog post and fill in the gaps: past perfectFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Marisol's email and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read Teo's reply and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Odile texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right past participle: a busy weekChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with the past perfect: ten years laterFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with hadn't: a bad camping tripFill in the gapsUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: sentencesUnjumbleUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: questionsUnjumbleUnlock
- Sort the forms: past simple, past participle or both?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Fill in the table: + − ? in the past perfectFill in the tableUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endings: why?MatchUnlock
- Find the mistake in each sentenceQuizUnlock
- Choose the right form: which came first?Choose the optionUnlock
- Read Ilse's postcard and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read Imke's hotel review and fill in the gaps: past perfectFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the news story and fill in the gaps: past perfectFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with the past perfect: time wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
Grammar: the past perfect: what happened first
When a story in the past jumps back to something even earlier, that earlier action takes the past perfect: She had never flown before. The form is had plus the past participle, the same for I, she and they, while the later action stays in the past simple.
Past perfect: what had happened before?
Two actions in the past: the earlier one takes had + past participle.
Had + past participle, on a timeline
When we got to the gate, the plane had left. The plane left first, so the earlier action gets had left; reaching the gate came second and stays in the past simple. Nothing changes for he, she or it.
had + past participle
subjecthadpast participle
When we got to the gate, the plane had left.
She had never flown before.
By the time I called, they had gone to bed.
On a timeline
- 1. the plane left → had left
- 2. we got to the gate → past simple
- now
Short forms, negatives, questions
I'd left, She hadn't left, Had you left? Questions start with Had and need no did. Short answers keep had in full: Yes, I had. No, they hadn't.
| Who | Positive (+) | Negative (−) | Question (?) | Short answers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | I had left. · I'd left. | I had not left. · I hadn't left. | Had I left? | Yes, I had. · No, I hadn't. |
| you | You had left. · You'd left. | You hadn't left. | Had you left? | Yes, you had. · No, you hadn't. |
| he / she / it | She had left. · She'd left. | She hadn't left. | Had she left? | Yes, she had. · No, she hadn't. |
| we | We had left. · We'd left. | We hadn't left. | Had we left? | Yes, we had. · No, we hadn't. |
| they | They had left. · They'd left. | They hadn't left. | Had they left? | Yes, they had. · No, they hadn't. |
The third form of the verb
Regular verbs use the same -ed form twice: booked, had booked. Many irregular verbs have a separate participle (go – went – gone, fly – flew – flown, forget – forgot – forgotten); some repeat the past form, like leave – left – left.
| Verb | Past simple | Past participle (had …) |
|---|---|---|
| book (regular) | booked | booked |
| go | went | gone |
| see | saw | seen |
| take | took | taken |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| write | wrote | written |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| fly | flew | flown |
| be | was / were | been |
| do | did | done |
| break | broke | broken |
| leave | left | left |
| buy | bought | bought |
| lose | lost | lost |
When: past simple or past perfect?
When I got home, Mom made dinner: she started cooking after I came in. When I got home, Mom had made dinner: it was ready. Signal words often point to the past perfect: by the time, already, just, never … before.
When: past simple or past perfect?
Past simple: one action, then the next
- When I got home, Mom made dinner.
- → I got home first. Then Mom started to cook.
- Actions in order: I packed, called a taxi and left.
Past perfect: the earlier action
- When I got home, Mom had made dinner.
- → Mom cooked first. When I got home, dinner was ready.
- Signal words: by the time · already · just · never … before
Examples
- By the time we got to the store, it had closed.by the time
- When Ana called, I had already gone to bed.already
- It was my first trip abroad. I had never been on a plane before.never … before
- Sam was hungry because he hadn't eaten all day.the reason happened earlier
- Had you ever met her before the party? — No, I hadn't.question and short answer
- What had happened? — Someone had taken my bag.wh- question
After, before and by the time
With after and before the order is already clear, so both forms are correct: After I packed or After I had packed, I called a taxi. By the time takes the past simple, and the other clause the past perfect.
After, before and by the time
With after and before, the order is already clear, so the past simple is correct too: After I had packed, I called a taxi. = After I packed, I called a taxi. By the time + past simple, then the past perfect: By the time the doctor came, my fever had gone down.
Common mistakes
Look out for She had went home, When we arrived, the movie has started, Did they had finished? and Yes, I'd. A past story needs had, not has, and the question starts with Had.
She had went home.
She had gone home.
had + past participle: go – went – gone
When we arrived, the movie has started.
When we arrived, the movie had started.
a past story: had, not has / have
Did they had finished?
Had they finished?
questions: Had + subject + past participle, no did
Had you seen it? — Yes, I'd.
Had you seen it? — Yes, I had.
short answers: no 'd
More lessons on this grammar: Past perfect lessons and exercises
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What's in the lesson
- 41 auto-checked exercises
- 5 games
- 1 real-life document
- 1 grammar scheme
- 1 picture
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- put the earlier of two past actions in the past perfect: By the time the police arrived, the thief had run away.
- use the past participle after had: She had gone home, not She had went home
- ask and answer with had, without did: Had they paid for the tickets? – Yes, they had. No, she hadn't.
- tell When Dad came home, we ate dinner together from When Dad came home, we had eaten dinner
- add already, just and never … before: The cake was still warm: Grandma had just taken it out of the oven.
- Grammar:
- past perfect · had + past participle · by the time · past simple vs past perfect
- Topic:
- grammar practice · travel · airports · stories
Teaching tips
- Play “What had happened?”: say a result like The street was wet or Lina's eyes were red, and pairs race to give earlier causes: It had rained in the night.
- Mark the first action before choosing: in the when-sentences, students underline what happened first, then pick left or had left. The pairs about the bus and the movie make a good warm-up.
- Retell a missed train or bus: after the chat with Odile, each student tells a partner about a time they arrived too late, starting By the time I got there…
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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · B1
English Grammar Practice · B1 has 28 drill lessons, one grammar point each: the present perfect continuous, narrative tenses, future forms, modals of deduction, the second conditional, the passive, relative clauses, reported speech, question tags and linkers. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course
- 1Present perfect continuous: how long have you been doing it?
- 2Present perfect simple or continuous: how many or how long?
- 3Past perfect: what had happened before?
- 4Narrative tenses: telling a great story
- 5Future forms: plans, promises and timetables
- 6Future time clauses: I'll call you when I land
- 7Used to, be used to, get used to: settling in
- 8Modal verbs: can, must, should or might?
- 9Could, was able to, managed to: did you make it?
- 10Modals of deduction: whose bag could it be?
- 11Second conditional: what would you do?
- 12Conditionals compared: real or imagined?
- 13Present and past passive: how is it made?
- 14Passive in other tenses: what's being done?
- 15Relative clauses: the person who, the place where
- 16Reported statements: who said what?
- 17Reported questions and commands: what did they ask you?
- 18Indirect questions: could you tell me where it is?
- 19Question tags: it's your first day, isn't it?
- 20Gerunds and infinitives: enjoy doing or decide to do?
- 21Reflexive pronouns: did you make it yourself?
- 22Although, however, despite: great view, tiny room
- 23So, such and because of: what a storm!
- 24Phrasal verbs: who's going to clean it up?
- 25All, both, either, neither, none: two or a whole group?
- 26-ed and -ing adjectives: bored or boring?
- 27Advanced comparatives: the more, the better
- 28Articles with place names: the Nile, but Lake Como