English · Stage 6

Had Done

Grammar & Punctuation — the past perfect (had + past participle) marks the earlier of two past actions: 'The train had left before we reached the platform.'

✦ English📘 Stage 6 · S6⏱ ~13 min🧒 Ages 10–12★ Free to start

I can use the past perfect, as in I had seen, to show one past action happened before another.

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Kavi's Two-Layer Past

"When two things both happened in the past, how do I show which came first?" asked Kavi. "I lay one past behind the other. The train had left before we reached the platform. The leaving came first — so it takes the past perfect: had + the past participle (had left). The reaching came second — plain simple past (reached). Had done is the deeper layer of the past. Let's set one action behind another together!"

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What your child will learn

1had + past participle = the earlier actionWhen two actions both happened in the past, put the one that happened first into the past perfect: had + the past participle (seen, gone, eaten, written). The action that happened second stays in the simple past.

2Which layer is which?

3Irregular past participles after 'had'Tap each card to hear it. After 'had' you need the past participle — not the simple past. 'had gone', never 'had went'.

4Past perfect or simple past?Read each verb phrase. If it is had + a past participle it is past perfect (the earlier action). If it is just the plain past it is simple past (the later action).

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A peek inside

In "The train had left before we reached the platform," which action happened first, and how do you know?

find the past perfect (had + past participle) → 'had left'. The past perfect always marks the earlier action.

Try this at home: What two parts make the past perfect?

Ready to play and learn?

Start the free interactive lesson, or print the handout for screen-free play.

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Part of English · Stage 6 · S6 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.