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Past perfect (I had done) в английском языке

Study this example situation:






I went to a party last week. Tom went to the party too. Tom went home at 10:30. So, when I arrived at 11:00, Tom wasn't there.

When I arrived at the party, Tom wasn't there.
He had gone home.

This is the past perfect (simple) tense:

I/he/she (etc.) had (= I'd/he'd/she'd, etc.) gone
I/he/she (etc.) hadn't gone
had you/he/she (etc.) gone?


We form the past perfect with had + the past participle (gone/opened/written, etc.). For irregular past participles see this.

Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past:


  • I arrived at the party.



We use the past perfect to say that something had already happened before this time:


  • When I arrived at the party, Tom had already gone home.


There are some more examples:


  • When I got home, I found that someone had broken into my apartment and had stolen my fur coat.

  • George didn't want to come to the movies with us because he had already seen the film twice.

  • It was my first time in an airplane. I was very nervous because I had never flown before.



The past perfect (I had done) is the past of the present perfect (I have done). Compare these situations:




Present
I'm not hungry. I've just had lunch.
The house is dirty. We haven't cleaned it for weeks.

Past
I wasn't hungry. I'd just had lunch.
The house was dirty. Wc hadn't cleaned it for weeks.


Compare the past perfect (I had done) and the simple past (I did):


  • "Was Tom there when you arrived?" "No, he had already gone home."

  • but: "Was Tom there when you arrived?" "Yes, but he went home soon afterward."
  • Ann wasn't home when I called her. She was at work.
    but: Ann had just gotten home when I called her. She had been at work.



For the past perfect continuous see this.