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.