Past Perfect Verb Tense

When is the simple past perfect verb tense used?

The simple past perfect verb tense is used:

• to state "how many"
• to clarify the order of two past non-continuous events
• to state a past action was completed before an other action
• interchangeably with the past perfect continuous verb tense
• with the exact time or an unexpected time can be stated (unlike when using the simple present prefect verb tense)

1. The simple past perfect verb tense is used to to clarify the order of two past actions.
   • The first action uses the simple past perfect verb tense
   • The second action uses that past simple verb tense.
   • Examples:
     • I wasn't hungry when I came home from school. I had eaten on my way home from school.
     • We had already left for school, when I found out that the my English class was cancelled.
2. The simple past perfect verb tense be used to state an action that occurred in the past was completed, before a 2nd action in the past started.
   • I was very tired when my friends came to pick me up. I had worked all day.
   • We slept only a few hours, when we had to wake up to go to school.
3. The simple past perfect tense can be used to answer the question "how many".
   • Examples:
     • I had lived in that house so many years ago.
     • We had visited so many different place, before we came home.
4. There are many cases where the past perfect continuous verb tense can be interchangeable with the simple past perfect tense.
   • Examples:
   • I had slept all night. - past perfect simple tense
   • I had been sleeping all night. - past perfect continuous verb tense
   • I have lived in this house many years. - past perfect simple tense
   • I have been living in this house for many years. - past perfect continuous verb tense