2. It doesn’t matter if the subject is singular or plural; the formula doesn’t change. Example. Form.

So what’s the difference between past perfect and simple past? had + been + infinitive + ing. Exercises on Simple Past and Past Perfect Simple . You use the past perfect to talk about things which happened before the past time which you’re talking about.
The formula for the past perfect tense is had + [past participle]. When you’re telling a story or having a conversation, you might refer to several different points, which happened at different times. When to Use the Past Perfect.

Use of the Past Perfect Progressive. Compare the following examples: Example: Jane had read a lot about elephants before she went to the zoo. I had been wait ing for Susan for 2 hours when she arrived.

Past perfect simple or past perfect continuous? 1. Usually we use 'for + time'. Jane went to the zoo before she had finished reading her new book about elephants. The past perfect continuous tells us 'how long', just like the present perfect continuous, but this time the action continues up to a point in the past rather than the present. Average: 3.6 (473 votes) Wed, 06/09/2010 - 05:44 — Chris McCarthy.
1: Something that started in the past and continued up to another action or time in the past. how long something had been happening before something else happened. Past Simple or Past Perfect? - English Grammar Today – une référence pour l'utilisation et la grammaire de l'anglais écrit et parlé – Cambridge Dictionary Grammar; These two tenses are both used to talk about things that happened in the past. 3. If the action after "before" started (and was not completed) before a certain time in the past, use Past Perfect. So, it’s common to jump between the past simple and past perfect, like you saw in the dialogue. Read about how to make the past perfect here.

However we use past perfect to talk about something that happened before another action in the past, which is usually expressed by the past simple.