The verb to come · Conjugation
Past Perfect of come
The answer: had come
B2
A past action that happened before another past action.
Quick answer
The Past Perfect of the verb to come is had come.
Example: She had already come home when I arrived.
Full conjugation in the Past Perfect
| Pronoun | Form | Contraction |
|---|---|---|
| I | had come | I'd come |
| You | had come | You'd come |
| He / She / It | had come | He'd / She'd / It'd come |
| We | had come | We'd come |
| You (pl.) | had come | You'd come |
| They | had come | They'd come |
Common mistakes to avoid
1. I had came ❌
After had, use the past participle, not the Past Simple: I had come. The Past Simple of come is came, and the past participle is come.
2. Yesterday I had gone to the cinema ❌
Use the Past Perfect only for the earlier of two past actions. For one past action, the Past Simple is enough: Yesterday I went to the cinema. With come: came for one action, had come for the action that came first.
3. 'd = had or would?
'd can mean had or would. Usually, the next word tells you: I'd seen = I had seen, I'd see = I would see. With come, the two look the same. So look at the rest of the sentence: already or before suggests had; if suggests would.
Practice quiz
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Frequently asked questions
How do you conjugate come in the Past Perfect?+
Use had + the past participle come. The form is the same for every person: I had come, she had come, they had come. The short form is 'd: I'd come.
When do you use the Past Perfect of come?+
Use it for an action that happened before another action in the past. It shows which action came first: When we arrived, the film had already started. The film started first, and then we arrived. Signal words: before, after, already, by the time.
What is the past participle of come?+
The past participle of come is come. You use it after have, has and had. It is different from the Past Simple. Learn the three forms together: come, came, come.
What is the difference between had come and have come?+
Have come (Present Perfect) connects the past to now. Had come (Past Perfect) connects an earlier past to a later past. Compare: I have finished my homework (so I can play now) and I had finished my homework before dinner.
How do you make the negative and the question of come in the Past Perfect?+
Negative: I hadn't come (had not). Question: put had before the subject: Had you come…? The past participle does not change.
Related pages: come Past Perfect
Pages on a similar topic or with a similar use, so you can keep exploring.
Updated on 12 November 2026 by the Big Challenge teaching team. Every year, more than 500,000 students across Europe take part in our English contest, created in 1999. Our teaching approach →
The Big Challenge · Updated on 12 November 2026 · Source: www.thebigchallenge.com/bl/academy/learn-english/verbs/come/past-perfect
© The Big Challenge. Copying allowed for classroom use. Every year, more than 500,000 students across Europe take part in our English contest, created in 1999.
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More forms of the verb to come are coming soon.