Past Perfect Tense English Grammar

FORM
Examples:
You had studied English before you moved to New York.
Had you studied English before you moved to New York?
You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

Past Perfect
by 6 o’clock yesterday – вчера к 6 часам
by 9 a.m. yesterday – вчера к 9 утра
before he came – до того, как он пришёл
by that time – к тому времени
after - после того, как
by the end of the year – к концу года, etc.

Глагол в форме Past Perfect выражает действие, которое завершилось до определенного момента или другого действия в прошлом.
They had finished the work by 6 o'clock yesterday. — Они закончили работу вчера к 6 часам.
Mary had got asleep before her mother came home.— Мэри уснула прежде, чем её мама пришла домой.
Past Perfect образуется с помощью вспомогательного глагола had и III формы основного глагола.

Обратите внимание!
Past Perfect употребляется для выражения предшествования. Если описываются действия, которые следовали друг за другом, употребляется Past Simple.
Сравните:
She did some shopping, came home and cooked dinner. — Она сделала покупки, пришла домой и приготовила ужин.
Before she cooked dinner, she had done some shopping. — Прежде чем она приготовила ужин, она сделала покупки.

Past Perfect
(+) He had read the book, before he saw the film.
(?)Had he read the book before he saw the film?
(-) He hadn’t read the book, before he saw the film.

Sam had painted the picture
by 7 o’clock yesterday.
Sam

Roman had cooked dinner
by 6 o’clock yesterday.
Roman

Take off
Arrive
Mrs. Evans
The plane had taken off before Mrs. Evans arrived to the airport.

Sally
Fall asleep
Sally had fallen asleep before her father came home.

The students had made cakes by 9 p.m.

PRACTICE: Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense.
1. When the accident ……. (happen) that lorry was driving like a lunatic. I …… (never see) a lorry travelling so fast!
2. We …… (miss) the beginning of the play because it ….. (already start) when we arrived.
3. I …… (not recognise) my old teacher because we.....(not see) each other for 15 years.
4. When I ……(arrive) at her house I found she ……. (go out) so nobody was there.
5. My brother ……. (eat) all the cake before we …….. (get) home.
6. I ……. (understand) the film because I ……. (read) the book before.
7. Before she …… (buy) the flat she …… (look around) it several times.
8. I …… (not have) my book because I……. (lose) it the day before.
9. I ……. (study) English for two years before I …… (move) to N.Y.
10. She ……. (never see) a bear before she …... (move) to Alaska.