We use the past perfect simple to talk about an action taking place before a certain time in the past:
"When Sarah arrived home, their parents had already gone to bed." Which action happend first?
Sarah´s parents went to bed before she arrived. he past perfect simple is also called "the past of the past".
Exercise 1: Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the past perfect simple.
Exercise 2: Past simple or past perfect?
Exercise 3: Past simple, present perfect or past perfect?