The Past Perfect Tense to express a past action that occurred either before another activity or before a point of time in the past.

Use the Past Perfect Tense after 'AFTER'
Use the Past Perfect Tense before 'BEFORE'

EX:

She had cooked dinner before I got home.
I got home after she had cooked dinner.

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs in parentheses (Past Perfect).

1. By the time the train arrived, they ________ (already/leave).
2. She ________ (not/finish) her homework when her friends came over.
3. We ________ (just/eat) dinner when the power went out.
4. After he ________ (clean) the house, he decided to relax.
5. I couldn’t believe they ________ (forget) my birthday!

Exercise 1: Rewrite the sentences in reported speech using the past perfect tense.

1. Direct: “I have finished my homework,” she said.
   → Reported: She said that ________.

2. Direct: “We have never been to Paris before,” they told us.
   → Reported: They told us that ________.

3. Direct: “He has already called me,” she mentioned.
   → Reported: She mentioned that ________.

4. Direct: “I haven’t seen this movie,” he said.
   → Reported: He said that ________.

5. Direct: “They have lived here for a long time,” she explained.
   → Reported: She explained that ________.