English Tenses · Further practice · Look back from a point in the past
Past Perfect – Learn & Practise
“I had finished.” “She hadn’t left.” “Had they eaten?” Show that one event was already complete before another past event or time.
100 questions · 10 per round · No sign-in needed
1. What is Past Perfect?
Make the past perfect with had + the past participle. It looks back from a point in the past to an earlier event or situation. Had has the same form with every subject.
An earlier completed action
“She had left before I arrived.” Leaving happened before my arrival.
Already complete at a past point
“By the time the lesson started, we had read the instructions.”
Explaining a past situation
“I couldn’t open the door because I had lost my keys.” The earlier loss explains the later problem.
2. Choose the correct form
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I / You / He / She / It / We / They | had + past participle | I had finished. She had finished. They had finished. |
3. Positive, negative and question patterns
+ Positive
Subject + had + past participle
She had left before I arrived.
− Negative
Subject + had not + past participle
She hadn’t left before I arrived.
? Question
Had + subject + past participle?
Had she left before I arrived?
Use had with every subject. Keep the past participle in positive sentences, negatives and questions. Put not after had. Move had before the subject to make a question. Do not add did.
4. Contractions
I had → I’d
You had → You’d
She had → She’d
We had → We’d
They had → They’d
had not → hadn’t
“She’d finished” means “She had finished”. ’d can also mean would in other structures; use the surrounding words to understand it.
5. Questions and short answers
Yes/No questions
“Had you finished?” → “Yes, I had.” / “No, I hadn’t.”
“Had she called?” → “Yes, she had.” / “No, she hadn’t.”
“Had they arrived?” → “Yes, they had.” / “No, they hadn’t.”
Use the full form had in positive short answers, not ’d.
WH-questions
- What had you done before the meeting?
- Where had she put the keys?
- Why had they left early?
- How long had you known her before you worked together?
6. Spelling and verb forms
Regular participles
work → worked; finish → finished; visit → visited. Learn the usual -ed spelling rules.
Irregular participles
go → gone; see → seen; write → written; eat → eaten; take → taken; do → done.
Some keep the same spelling
put → put; cut → cut; read → read. The participle read sounds like red.
Keep the participle after had
Say had gone, not had went; had seen, not had saw; had written, not had wrote.
7. Time expressions and common mistakes
Before · after · already · by the time · by then · never before
Which event happened first?
“When I arrived, they had left.” First they left; then I arrived. “When I arrived, they left” can mean they left when or after I arrived. The tense changes how we understand the sequence.
Past Simple and Past Perfect together
“I recognised her because I had met her before.” The later situation uses the past simple; the earlier experience uses the past perfect.
The past perfect is not needed for every earlier action. If before or after already makes the order clear, the past simple is often possible too: “I ate before I left.” Use the past perfect when the earlier completion is the focus or helps make the sequence clear.
- “I had went.” → I had gone.
- “She had finish.” → She had finished.
- “They had ate.” → They had eaten.
- “Did you had finished?” → Had you finished?
- “Where they had gone?” → Where had they gone?
Audio uses your device’s English (UK) voice when available. No sound plays automatically.
8. Your practice space
Choose an activity. Each round has 10 questions. Type answers, choose an option or build a sentence. Read the feedback before moving on.
Full forms and standard contractions are accepted. Capital letters and final punctuation do not affect your score. Each answer is checked once per round; you can practise missed questions afterwards.
The final assessment draws from the practice bank. It is a learning check, not a qualification test.
Your round
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10. Print and practise
Use these questions for classwork or homework. The print version includes 20 questions followed by the answer key on a separate page. Use your print settings to save as PDF if you prefer.
View worksheet questions and answers
- Use past perfect: I ___ the form before the office closed. (finish)
Answer: had finished - Use past perfect: We ___ the tickets before the price increased. (book)
Answer: had booked - Use past perfect: You ___ a decision before the interview. (make)
Answer: had made - Use past perfect: We ___ the timetable before the course began. (receive)
Answer: had received - Use past perfect: They ___ the exam before the college closed for summer. (take)
Answer: had taken - Complete the past perfect negative: I ___ the form before the office closed. (finish)
Answer: had not finished - Complete the past perfect negative: He ___ his keys before he reached home. (lose)
Answer: had not lost - Complete the past perfect negative: My children ___ lunch before we left. (eat)
Answer: had not eaten - Complete the past perfect negative: We ___ the timetable before the course began. (receive)
Answer: had not received - Complete the past perfect negative: The students ___ the instructions before they began. (read)
Answer: had not read - Complete the question: ___ I finished the form before the office closed?
Answer: Had - Complete the question: ___ he lost his keys before he reached home?
Answer: Had - Complete the question: ___ the nurse checked the details before the doctor arrived?
Answer: Had - Build a past perfect question. Use all the words.
Words: began / course / the / before / timetable / the / received / we / Had
Answer: Had we received the timetable before the course began? - Build a past perfect question. Use all the words.
Words: it / discussed / we / before / film / the / seen / you / Had
Answer: Had you seen the film before we discussed it? - Make this negative. Keep the same subject and details: I had finished the form before the office closed.
Answer: I had not finished the form before the office closed. - Make this negative. Keep the same subject and details: They had completed the task by the time the tutor returned.
Answer: They had not completed the task by the time the tutor returned. - Make a yes/no question. Keep the same subject and details: He had bought the ingredients before he started cooking.
Answer: Had he bought the ingredients before he started cooking? - Correct the mistake. Write the complete sentence: They had ate before we arrived.
Answer: They had eaten before we arrived. - Correct the mistake. Write the complete sentence: He hadn’t did his homework before class.
Answer: He had not done his homework before class.
Keep practising
Try another activity, revisit a rule or use a grammar video to support your learning.
ESOLish · Past Perfect
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Write your answers. Keep the same subject when changing sentences. Full forms and contractions are both correct.
Past Perfect · Answer key
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