The Past Perfect Tense in English:

The past perfect tense describes events or situations that precede

another point in the past that has been established through the the
present perfect or the simple past.

English creates this tense with a past participle and, as the name
suggests, with the auxiliary verb, "to have," conjugated in its past-
tense forms:

I had already noticed that before you called my attention to it.

She was tired because she hadn't slept the night before.
He had been living in his car for several months before finally finding an apartment.

For a discussion of how to form the past participle, consult the

explanation of the present perfect.