The Past Perfect Tense

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.

The past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It is used to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened first.

The Past Perfect tense in English is composed of two parts: the past tense of the verb to have (had) + the past participle of the main verb. Example: to decide, Past perfect

Subject had pastparticiple We had decided...

In these examples, Event A is the first or earliest event, Event B is the second or latest event:Event A Event B

1) John had gone out when I arrived in the office. Event A Event B

2) I had saved my document before the computer crashed. Event A Event B  3)When they arrived we had already started cooking Event A Event B

4)He was very tired because he hadn't slept well. Event A Event B

Questions are formed by inverting the subject and had.

She had decided to get married him.

Had she decided to get married him?

Negatives are formed with not and contractions are used.

She had not decided to get married him.

She hadn’t decided to get married.

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