The past perfect simple is used when we talk about two actions that occurred at different times in the past. We use Past perfect to show that an action happened before other actions in the same sentence that are described by verbs in the simple past tense.
To form the past perfect simple we follow the following rules:
•Affirmative sentences → had + past participle
👉 Eve had left by the time I arrived at the office (Eve se había ido para cuando…)
💡 first action: “leave”, second action: “arrive”
👉 Before the boss called Anne, she had already sent the email (ya lo había enviado)
💡 first action: “send”, second action: “call”
•Negative sentences → had + not + past participle or hadn’t + past participle
👉 Fred answered my question although I had not asked him (aunque no le había preguntado)
👉 We lost the match because we hadn’t practised the days before (no habíamos practicado)
•Questions → had + subject + past participle?
👉 Had you already heard the news when I texted you?
👉 Had they booked a room before they went to Dublin?
You can tell things chronologically:
👉 The film started and then I arrived at the cinema
Or you can go back in time when telling things:
👉 By the time I arrived at the cinema, the film had already started