The Past Perfect Tense

We have been working with the Present Perfect Tense for some time now and it is time to move on to the Past Perfect Tense. (I have plenty of practice exercises to reinforce the use of the Present Perfect Tense and I will tell you where you can find many other sources also.)
DEFINITION: THE PAST PERFECT TENSE ALWAYS USES THE HELPING VERB "HAD" FOR EVERY PERSON. (I,YOU,HE,SHE,IT,WE,YOU and THEY) IT ALSO USES THE PAST PARTICIPLE OF THE VERB. To use the Past Perfect Tense, you need the following conditions:
1. You need two actions in the past.
2. You need time between the two actions.
3. The reader (or listener) will know that the action
you put in the past perfect tense(had + Past participle) happened FIRST IN TIME.

Here is a simple example of the Past Perfect Tense: Patricia SOLD her house after she HAD LIVED in it for TEN YEARS......"Had Lived" is in the Past Perfect Tense. Why? What happened first in time?...... The living?....The selling?.....Was there time between the two actions?......Yes, there was ten years.....Many times in every day English we ignore using the Past Perfect Tense. For example, we might say, "Patricia sold her house after she lived in it for ten years." Is that English perfect? No. Is it understandable? Of course it is, and that is why the mistake is often ignored. However, YOU STILL HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO USE THE PAST PERFECT TENSE!