Question

Notice the form of the verbs italicised in these sentences.

1. My grandmother was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she had once been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe.
2. When we both had finished we would walk back together.
3. When I came back she would ask me what the teacher had taught me.
4. It was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray.
5. The sun was setting and had lit her room and verandah with a golden light.

These are examples of the past perfect forms of verbs. When we recount things in the distant past we use this form.

Answer 1

Examples from the sentences:

1. had been, had known, had once been, had even had
2. had finished
3. had taught
4. had known
5. had lit