Here is an example of a past perfect simple question:
What had I done to deserve it?
Past perfect simple questions are formed by putting had before the subject and the past participle of the verb. They are used to ask about an action or event that happened before another past action or event, or before a specific time in the past. For example:
- What had I done to deserve it? (This implies that something bad happened to me in the past, and I want to know what I did before that to cause it.)
- Had you eaten anything before you went to the theatre? (This asks if you had a meal or a snack before a past event.)
- Had she moved to London already when she met her boyfriend? (This asks if she was living in London or not at the time of meeting her boyfriend in the past.)
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 65 in the category of PAST is past perfect simple QUESTIONS.
iWeb corpus was not offering information for this pattern, but COCA did offer something basic. One thing is for sure. This is quite a rare structure.
had _p _vvn ?
1 HAD SHE DONE? 44
2 HAD HE DONE? 35
3 HAD I DONE? 25
4 HAD IT BEEN? 25
5 HAD HE GONE? 20
6 HAD HE BEEN? 15
HAD SHE EXPECTED?
New York Times8 HAD HE SAID? 14
9 HAD SHE GONE? 13
10 HAD HE EXPECTED? 12
1 HAD SHE BEEN THINKING? 23
2 HAD HE BEEN THINKING? 18
3 HAD HE DONE IT? 14
4 HAD HE COME FROM? 12
5 HAD HE BEEN THERE? 9
We believe past perfect passive questions should be considered at the very least C1:
Had the witnesses been consulted before the case was closed?
Had the issue been addressed before it escalated?
Had the patient been diagnosed before the symptoms worsened?