Past Perfect Simple We use the past perfect simple

Past Perfect Simple
We use the  past perfect simple  to talk about actions that were completed before another action or situation in the past. We use it to focus on the result of the action.

• 
  Anna  had left  when we arrived.
  
• 
  Had the meeting  started  by the time you got there?
  

We usually use the  past perfect simple  and not the  past perfect continuous  when we are talking about states rather than actions, with  verbs  like  be,  have,  know.

• 
  We ’d known  each other for about five years before we became friends.
  

Note that we usually use the  past simple  to refer to the more recent action.

• 
  By the time we  arrived  at the station, the train had already left.
  

Past Perfect Continuous
We use the  past perfect continuous  to talk about actions that continued for a period of time before another action or situation in the past. We use it to focus on the duration of the action. The action may or may not have continued up to the moment we are talking about it.

• 
  I’d been living  in Italy for three years when we first met.
  
• 
  When I woke up, I saw that it  had been raining.
  

We often use  already  with the  past perfect  to emphasize that the action h appened earlier. We also often use  just  to show that the action happened a very short time before.

• 
  She had  already  been working for two hours by the time we got there.
  

Past perfect simple Form It is formed with the auxiliary verb "had" + past participle (-ed ending for regular verbs, e.g . worked, travelled, tried, different forms for irregular verbs, e.g. written, made, sung ): I had d one, I had not done (I hadn't done ), Had I done? Had I not done? (Hadn't I done?) 1. It is used to refer to an activity that was completed before a point of time in the past. In 2005 I had lived in the same place for ten years. Had you ever travelled by plane before your holiday in Spain? 2. If we use the past perfect simple it does not always mean that an ativity continued up to a point of time in the past. The event can end a long time before the point of time in the past that we refer to. In 2001 Angie worked in Glasgow. In 1980's she had worked in Wales. (Angie left her job in Wales in 1989. In 2001 she worked in Glasgow. But we do not know what she did in the meantime.) Past perfect in time clauses In time clauses after when we can use either the past tense or the past perfect tense. We use the past tense if we want to express that the first action led to the second and that the second followed the first very closely.

Past Perfect continuous to put emphasis on the duration of an action which started and finished in the past before anither past action or a stated time in the past , usually with since or for.
They had been looking for a house for six months before they found one they liked.
Present perfect continuous for an action which lasted for some time in the past and whose result was visible in the past.
Last Friday Ron had to fly to New York. His flight was delayed. He was annoyed. He had been waiting at the airport for three hours. ( He waited at the airport for three hours and the result of the action was visible in the past, too.)
Some Exercises Sam had  just  left when we Peter was Sally's best friend. She (know) him all her life.

1. 
   The children were wet because they (play) football in the rain.
   
2. 
   We were very hungry because we (not / eat).
   
3. 
   I was delighted when I found my keys . I (look) for them for hours.
   
4. 
   She was exhausted because she (work) since eight o'clock that morning.
   
5. 
   Everything was white because it (snow).
   
6. 
   The passengers were cross because the airline (lose) everyone's bags.
   
7. 
   I (not / see) Jacob for several years, but I recognised him immediately.
   

• 
  arrived.
  

Note:
Past perfect continuous is the past equivalent of the present perfect continuous.

I had been driving for ten hours, so I felt exhausted. (The action- had been driving - lasted for some time in the past . the result- felt exhausted - was also visible in the past).

I have been driving for ten hours, so I feel exhausted. ( The action - have been driving- started in the past. The result - feel exhausted - is still visible in the present).

The past perfect continuous is used with the following time expressions: For, since, how long, before, until, etc.