Past Perfect in real stories
The tense for the thing that happened first. English marks it with had, and once you can see that, the order of events in any story stops being a guess.
- Form
- had + past participle
- Use
- An action that happened before another past event.
23 sentences, 23 different stories
One example per story, so this is the tense across the shelf and not one tale retold.
At last the Hare woke up with a start, and dashed on at his fastest, but only to find that the Tortoise had already won the race.
THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE →One fine day in winter some Ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain.
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTS →One day the Lion got entangled in a net which had been spread for game by some hunters, and the Mouse heard and recognised his roars of anger and ran to the spot.
THE LION AND THE MOUSE →The Country Mouse had never seen anything like it, and sat down to enjoy the luxuries his friend provided: but before they had well begun, the door of the larder opened and some one came in.
THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE →Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.
THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGGS →But Foxy-woxy had made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first snap only hurt Cocky-locky, but didn't kill him, he called out to Henny-penny.
HENNY-PENNY →Now the little old Woman had left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge. “Somebody has been at my porridge!” said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.
THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS →He went to the little pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a great round thing which came down the hill past him.
THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS →It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it.
PETER RABBIT →As soon as they had passed, little Benjamin Bunny slid down into the road, and set off--with a hop, skip, and a jump--to call upon his relations, who lived in the wood at the back of Mr.
BENJAMIN BUNNY →Jeremy Fisher; "I think I had better get away from here." Mr.
MR. JEREMY FISHER →And whenever she had picked one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after it, and so got deeper and deeper into the wood.
LITTLE RED-CAP [LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD] →The next morning she was asked how she had slept. “Oh, very badly indeed!” she replied. “I have scarcely closed my eyes the whole night through.
THE REAL PRINCESS →An honest farmer had once an ass that had been a faithful servant to him a great many years, but was now growing old and every day more and more unfit for work.
THE TRAVELLING MUSICIANS →And mind the words that thou and I said By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.’ Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had quite forgotten.
THE FROG-PRINCE →The two children had also not been able to sleep for hunger, and had heard what their stepmother had said to their father.
HANSEL AND GRETEL →It was now three mornings since they had left their father’s house.
Hansel and Gretel (part 2) →And what do you think he saw? why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden, had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up till it reached the sky.
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK →And the snow fell and spread a beautiful white covering over the grave; but by the time the spring came, and the sun had melted it away again, her father had married another wife.
ASHPUTTEL →But on their way home they had to pass by the hazel-tree that Ashputtel had planted; and on the branch sat a little dove singing: ‘Back again! back again! look to the shoe!
Cinderella (part 2) →The old minister listened attentively to their words, in order that he might repeat them to the Emperor; and then the knaves asked for more silk and gold, saying that it was necessary to complete what they had begun.
THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES →At the birth of her first little child she was very glad, and forgot the dwarf, and what she had said.
RUMPELSTILTSKIN →But by good luck the dwarfs came in very early that evening; and when they saw Snowdrop lying on the ground, they thought what had happened, and soon found the poisoned comb.
Snow White (part 2) →
Read them where they live
Every sentence above comes from a story on this site, free to read, with the audio and a tap on any word for its meaning. The grammar is easier to keep once you have met it in something you wanted to read anyway.