Past Perfect
Lesson 1 of 4 · ~8 minutes

Lesson 1 · Past Perfect

I had gone

Form

The Past Perfect is made of had and the past participle (V3) — the same form you already know from the Present Perfect and the irregular verbs list. One form for everyone: I, she, they all take had.

had + V3, one form for everyone

  • any personI had gone, she had gone, they had gone — had doesn't change
  • V3after had — the past participle: had gone, had finished, not had go, not had going
  • negativeI hadn't gone — had + not
  • questionHad you gone? — had moves to the front

Form

statement
negative
question

Example

She had finished the report.
She hadn't finished the report.
Had she finished the report?
Form
Example
statement
She had finished the report.
negative
She hadn't finished the report.
question
Had she finished the report?

I had already finished dinner when he called.

She had gone home before we arrived.

They hadn't seen the film before.

Had you met him before the party?

Where people usually slip

had doesn't change with the person the way verbs do in the Present Simple: not she haved gone.

After had comes the past participle, not the base form and not -ing: had gone, not had go, not had going.

In short

  • statementhad + V3, one form for everyone
  • negativehadn't + V3
  • questionHad + who + V3?
Back to lessons