Past Perfect Tense
Master the past perfect tense with these interactive exercises
Complete the exercises to practice the Past Perfect tense. You’ll get instant feedback on your answers.
Understanding the Past Perfect
The Past Perfect tense is used to show that one action in the past happened before another action in the past. It’s formed with had + past participle.
| Positive | Subject + had + past participle | I had finished my work. |
|---|---|---|
| Negative | Subject + had not (hadn’t) + past participle | She hadn’t seen the movie. |
| Question | Had + subject + past participle? | Had you visited London before? |
- To show an action completed before another action in the past
- To report past events in indirect speech
- In conditional sentences (third conditional)
- To express regret about the past
- When we arrived at the cinema, the film had already started.
- I had never seen such a beautiful sunset before I went to Hawaii.
- She had studied French before she moved to Paris.
- They hadn’t eaten breakfast before they left home.
Exercises
Exercise 1: Complete the sentences
1. When I arrived at the party, John __________ (already/leave).
2. She __________ (not/study) for the test, so she was very nervous.
Exercise 2: Choose the correct option
3. By the time we got to the theater, the play __________.
4. They __________ each other before the party.
Exercise 3: Correct the mistakes
5. When I saw him, I realized we met before.
6. She didn’t went to Rome before last year.
Exercise 4: Past Perfect vs Past Simple
7. After they __________ (eat) dinner, they __________ (watch) a movie.
8. I __________ (never/be) to Spain before I __________ (go) there last summer.
Exercise 5: Questions
9. __________ you __________ (visit) Paris before your trip last year?
10. Why __________ she __________ (not/finish) her homework before class?