Past Perfect: simple or continuous

Past Perfect looks back from one past moment to an earlier one. Use had + past participle for a finished earlier action, and had been + verb-ing when the focus is the ongoing activity or its duration before that point.

1. 1
   had done - the earlier past, in statements, negatives and questionsB1

   When to use it

   had + past participle marks the earlier of two past actions: she had left before he arrived

   shows a result before a past point: by Friday she had finished the report

   negatives and questions keep had: hadn't slept, Had you seen it?

   after had, use the participle, not the past: had gone, not had went

   Build an example

   StatementNegativeQuestion

   Subject

   shethey

   Past participle

   finishedgoneeaten

   Shehadfinished

   She had finished.

   The pattern had + past participle shows an earlier completed action in the past.

   Signal words

   by the timebeforeafteralreadyjustnever

   Spelling

   regular verbs→past participle = the -ed formfinish -> finished

   irregular verb→use the special past participlego -> gone

   irregular verb→use the special past participleeat -> eaten

   Common mistake

   By the time Lisa called, Mark left.By the time Lisa called, Mark had left.

   The leaving happened first, so Past Perfect marks the earlier past action.

   ✗ I can use Past Perfect only if both past actions are written in the sentence.

   ✓ It also works with a clear past time point or past result: By Friday, Maria had finished the report.

   Practice this step
2. 2
   had been doing - duration, and process vs resultB2