What had already happened

había empezado

had already started

Say these out loud

Why it works

Había + participle is the past before the past.

Use it when you are already telling a past story and step further back.

Ya is its natural partner: cuando llegué, ya había empezado.

Why not empezó

cuando llegué, la reunión empezó

when I arrived, the meeting started

Says it started as you walked in. Había empezado says it was under way without you.

In a full sentence

Cuando llegué al metro, el tren ya había salido.
When I arrived at the metro, the train had already left.
It happened before I arrived at the metro.
Cuando mi jefe llamó, yo ya había hecho la revisión.
When my boss called, I had already done the review.
I finished the review before he called.
Cuando llegué al bar, ella ya había salido.
When I arrived at the bar, she had already left.
She left before I arrived at the bar.
Cuando empezó la guardia, yo ya había hecho las pruebas.
When on-call started, I had already done the tests.
I did the tests before on-call started.

5 gaps to fill, then 3 sentences from the English · say or type each one