Select the correct tense of the underlined sentence: I had seen him earlier.

Concept

English marks the time and completeness of an action through tense. The past perfect tense is formed with the auxiliary 'had' followed by the past participle of the main verb ('had' + past participle). It names an action that was already completed before another point or event in the past.

Application

In 'I had seen him earlier', the verb phrase is 'had seen'. Here 'had' is the auxiliary and 'seen' is the past participle of 'see'. This 'had + past participle' pattern is the defining signature of the past perfect, and 'earlier' points to a moment before some later past reference. So the sentence is in the past perfect tense.

Contrast with the other forms

• Past perfect — 'had' + past participle (had seen): an action finished before another past point. This matches 'had seen'.

• Simple past — plain past form (saw): a single completed past action, e.g. 'I saw him earlier'. No 'had' is used.

• Past continuous — 'was/were' + -ing (was seeing): an action in progress in the past. Needs an '-ing' verb.

• Future perfect — 'will have' + past participle (will have seen): an action to be finished before a future point. Uses 'will have', not 'had'.

Cross-check: replacing 'had seen' with each alternative form changes the sentence ('I saw', 'I was seeing', 'I will have seen'); only 'had seen' keeps the original, confirming the past perfect tense.