Grammar › Past Perfect

Past Perfect: yes/no questions

450 fill-in-the-gap exercises, 45 tests of ten

Move had in front of the subject. The past participle stays put.

The past participle is the third form in verb tables: written, gone, built. It never changes with the subject.

The pattern

Swap had and the subject:

You had seen it. → Had you seen it?

There is only one auxiliary form, so nothing has to be chosen.

Short answers repeat had

Had they arrived? — Yes, they had. / No, they hadn’t.

Checking a state at a past moment

The question almost always fixes a past time and asks what was already true then:

• Had the meeting started when you got there?
• Had she already left?

ever and before

Both push the question back over a whole period up to that past point:

• Had you ever flown before that trip?
• Had he been to Oslo before?

Compare the Present Perfect version, which measures up to now: Have you ever flown?

All forms

Examples

Taken from the 450 sentences in this drill. The answer is highlighted.

• By the time we got there, had they packed their bags?
• Had you read the article before you shared it on social media?
• Had you finished your homework before you went to school?
• Had they heard the news before leaving for vacation?
• Had she eaten her lunch before she left for work this morning?
• Had we taken our break before we continued working?
• Had the staff cleaned every room before the inspection?
• Had they watched the movie before they bought the tickets?
• Had he practiced his speech before he gave it to the audience?
• Had we completed the assignment before we went on vacation?
• Had they done their homework before they watched TV?
• Had he prepared his speech before he delivered it at the conference?

Mistakes to avoid

Other forms of Past Perfect