English grammar: Past perfect simple

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past perfect

Affirmative
I had done
You had done
He/she/it had done
We had done
You had done (plural)
They had done

Negative
I had not done
You had not done
He/she/it had not done
We had not done
You had not done
They had not done

Question
Had I done?
Had you done?
Had he/she/it done?
Had we done?
Had you done?
Had they done?

We use the past perfect to talk about finished actions that happened before a certain time in the past.
I had finished lunch before they arrived.
You had left by the time they arrived.
He didn't want to come with us because he had already seen the film.

See also  Past perfect continuous | Third conditional

Carol said...
"I usually draw a timeline (a long one) on the board or on a big piece of paper. Then I invite students to write about the events that day, i.e.:

Student A:
7am: I had breakfast
8am: I went to school
12pm: I went back home
13pm: I finished my homework
15pm: I arrived for my English class

Student B:
8am: I had breakfast
9am: I went to work
15pm: I left work
15:15pm: I arrived (late) for my class

Then I model the first sentence:

When student B had breakfast, student A had already had breakfast (or had already gone to school).

Then students have to come up with other sentences using the information on the board. They can do it in pairs, comparing their days (or even their lives! i.e.: When I got married, you had already had 2 children! or in a big group."

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