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Past perfect simple (I had worked)

Past perfect simple: form​

We use had + the -ed form of the verb.

+I, she, he, it, you, we, they(full form)hadworked.
I, she, he, it, you, we, they(short form)’d
−I, she, he, it, you, we, they(full form)had notworked.
I, she, he, it, you, we, they(short form)hadn’t
? +Had I, she, he, it, you, we, theyworked?
? −(full form)Had I, she, he, it, you, we, theynotworked?
(short form)Hadn’t I, she, he, it, you, we, they
See also
  • Verbs: basic forms
  • Regular verbs
  • Irregular verbs

Past perfect simple: uses​

Time up to then​

The past perfect refers to time up to a point in the past (time up to then), just as the present perfect refers to something that happened in the time up to the moment of speaking (time up to now):

  • I*’d*** seen all of Elvis Presley’s movies by the time I was 20!

Compare

I’d been to five countries in Europe by 2001.Past perfect: ‘time up to then’ (2001).
I’ve been to five countries in Europe.Present perfect: ‘time up to now’.
See also
  • Present perfect simple (I have worked)

Reported clauses​

We commonly use the past perfect in reported clauses where the reporting verb (underlined) is in the past:

  • “Mr Hammond drove through a red light.”
  • The policeman said Mr Hammond had driven through a red light.
  • No one told me that the shop had closed.
  • I phoned Katie and she said the kids had had a day off school so she*’d*** taken them ice skating.

We also use the past perfect when the reporting verb is a verb of perception and is in the past tense:

  • My Dad was really angry because he heard I hadn’t come home until 3 am!
  • I saw she*’d*** bought the DVD so I asked if I could borrow it.
  • The doctor felt my mother had got worse since last week.

Talking about changed states​

We often use the past perfect to refer to situations which have changed. In speaking, had is often stressed:

  • A: Are you going anywhere today?
  • B: I had planned to go to the beach but look at the rain! (had is stressed; the meaning is ‘I have now changed my mind’)
  • I’m very happy working as an engineer but I had wanted to be an actor when I was younger.

The past perfect in conditional clauses​

We must use the past perfect when we imagine a different past in a clause with if:

  • I would have helped to paint the house if you*’d*** asked me. (You didn’t ask me.)
  • Sarah couldn’t come with us to the cinema. She would have loved it if she had been there. (She wasn’t there.)
warning

We don’t use the past perfect in the main clause of a conditional sentence. It is only used in the conditional clause:

  • [conditional clause] If we had seen you walking, [main clause] we would have stopped to give you a lift.
  • Not: If we had seen you walking, we had stopped …
See also
  • Conditionals