Page 431 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

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This use of the past perfect is especially common with when. (When has several meanings, so we often have to show the exact time relations by the verb fonn.) Compare:
- When I had opened the windows, I sat down and had a cup oftea.
(NOT YI/ten lupenetllhe wintl6ws, Istltd8ftltl . ..: the first action was quite separate from the second.)
When I opened the window, the cat jumped out. (More natural than When I had opened the window, ...: one action caused the other.)
- When I had written my letters, I did some gardening. (NOT lWren : ftJf'8te my ieHefs, ..did:Winegamen;'!g.)
When I wrote to her, she came at once.
unrealised hopes and wishes; things that did not happen
The past perfect can be used to express an unrealised hope, wish etc. Had is usually stressed in thi,s case.
I HAD hoped we would leave tomorrow, but it won't be possible. He HAD intended to make a cake, but he ran out oftime.
past perfect with It was the first/second ... that ...
We use a past perfect after it was the first/second . .. that ... and similar structures (see 591).
It was thefirst time that I had heard her sing. (NOT ••• that: heard ...) Itwasthefifthtimeshehadaskedthesamequestion.(NOT ••• shettSked...) It was only the second opera I had seen in my life. (NOT ••• " stlW ...)
For the pasl perfecl wilh before (e.g. He went O llt be/ore Iliad finished my sentence), see 97.3.
past perfect (3): progressive forms: had been + -ing
I had been working. Where had she been staying? They hadn't been listening.
For double letters in words like sitting, stopping, see 562.
use We use the past perfect progressive to talk about actions or situations which had continued up to the past moment that we are thinking about, or shortly before it.
At that time we had been living in the caravan for about six months. When 1found Mary, I could see that she had been crying.
I went to the doctor because I had been skeping badly.
past perfect (3): progressive 425
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