Past perfect

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When did Sarah Arrive?- She arrived at eleven o’clock.When did Paul leave? - He left at half past ten.Why didn’t Sarah find him when she arrived?- She didn’t find him because he had already left. What happened first and what came the second?- First Paul left, then Sarah came.

Timeline :

presentPast perfect past Future

Sarah Paul

When she arrived at the party, Paul had already left,

Therefore: The past perfect expressesthe past of the past !!

…………… We use past perfect to talk about an event that happened in the past another action happened in the past = qu’une autre actionne se passe.

before

Now,Try to give the rule :

……………. avant

Forms :• Affirmative :

I you/she/he/it/we/they had + past participle.Example:I had washed my clothes before she came.

• Negative:I you/she/he/it/we/they had + not+ past participle.Example:I hadn’t pepared lunch yet when she came in.

• Interrogative:Had you/she/he/it/we/they + past participle ? Example: Had she pepared lunch when her neighbour came in?

Exercise 1Make positive Past Perfect sentences

When I arrived to the cinema the film ………………………. (start)

When I arrived to the cinema the film had started.

She ………………………. (live) in China before she went to Thailand.

she had lived in China before she went to Thailand.

If you ……………………… (listen) to me, you would have got the job.

If you had listend to me, you would have got the job.

We were late for the plane because we ……………. (forget) our passports.

We were late for the plane because we had forgotten  our passports.

She told me she ………………….. (study) a lot before the exam.

She told me she  had studied a lot before the exam.

Exercise 2Make Negative Past Perfect sentences

The children ……….. (not/do) their homework, so they were in trouble.

The children hadn’t done their homework, so they were in trouble.

We couldn’t go into the concert because we ……. (not/bring) our tickets.

We couldn’t go into the concert because we hadn’t brought our tickets.

She said that she ………….. (not/visit) the UK before.

She said that she hadn’t visited the UK before.

He …………. (not/use) email before, so I showed him how to use it.

He hadn’t used email before, so I showed him how to use it.

You  ……………..(not/study) for the test, so you were very nervous.

You  hadn’t studied for the test, so you were very nervous.

Exercise 1Make Interrogative Past Perfect sentences

………….(she/see) the film already?

Had she seen the film already?

………………….(it/be) cold all week?

Had it been  cold all week?

……….(John/meet) Lucy before they worked together?

Had John met Lucy before they worked together?

What ………………. (you/cook) for dinner that night?

What  had you cooked for dinner that night?

How many coffees…………..  (she/drink) before the interview?

How many coffees  had she drunk before the interview?

Make sentences from the chart

Past perfect continuous

Yesterday morning I got up and looked out of the window. The sun was shining but the ground was very

wet.

It was not raining when I looked out of the window; the sun was shining. But it had been raining before. That's why the ground was wet.

4- VERB + ING

You should say then :

It had been raining

It is an action that took some time in the past.

1- SUBJECT

2- HAD (NOT)

3- BEEN

Some more examples:

• The boy came into the house with his clothes dirty. He'd been playing.

• I was very tired when I arrived home. I'd been working hard all day.

Time line :

NowPastPast perfect continuous

A continuing action in the past that ends at a certain point in the past

Note that present perfect is an action that started in the past but it ends in the present

Exercises :

Ex. 1 Read the situations and make sentences from the words in brackets.1 I was very tired when I arrived home.

(I / work / hard all day) .............................................................................

2 The two boys came into the house. They had a football and they were both very tired.

(they/play/football)...............................................................................................3 There was nobody in the room but there was a smell of cigarettes.

(somebody / smoke / in the room)

................................................................................................................

4 Ann woke up in the middle of the night. She was frightened and didn't know where she was. (she/ dream) ...............................................................................................................................5 When I got home, Mike was sitting in front of the TV. He had just turned it off. (he/watch/TV) ...............................................................................................................................

I had been working hard all day.

They had been playing football.

Somebody had been smoking in the room.

She had been dreaming.

He had been watcing TV.

Ex. 2 Read the situations and complete the sentences.

1 We played tennis yesterday. Half an hour after we began playing, it started to rain.

We ……………………………………………… for half an hour when it started to rain.

2 I had arranged to meet Tom in a restaurant. I arrived and waited for him.

After 20 minutes I suddenly realised that I was in the wrong restaurant.

I.............................................. for 20 minutes

when I .............................................................................

3 Sarah got a job in a factory. Five years later the factory closed down.

At the time the factory ................................

Sarah ...................................... there for five years.

had been playing

had been waiting

realised I was in the wrong restaurant.

closed down

had been working

4 I went to a concert last week. The orchestra began playing.

After about ten minutes a man in the audience suddenly began shouting.

The orchestra.............................................................

when ……………………………………..............................................

and he went on for 10 hours!

5 This time make your own sentence:

I began walking along the road.

I ...................................................................................................

when....................................................................................................................

had been playing for ten minutes

a man in the audience suddenly began shouting

had been walking along the road

a child came up to me and said: “Stand and deliver!”

Ex. 3 Put the verb into the most suitable form, past continuous (I was doing), past perfect (I had done) or past perfect continuous (I had been doing).

1 It was very noisy next door. Our neighbours ............................... (have) a party.

2 We were good friends. We ..................................... (know) each other for a long time.

3 John and I went for a walk. I had difficulty keeping up with him because he ................................................... (walk) so fast.

4 Mary was sitting on the ground. She was out of breath. She ................................................... (run).

were having

had knownhad been knowing

was walking

had been running

6 When I arrived, everybody was sitting round the table and talking. Their mouths were empty but their stomachs were full. They ................................................................. (eat).

7 Jim was on his hands and knees on the floor. He ................................................... (look) for his contact lens.

8 When I arrived, Kate ................................................... (wait) for me. She was rather annoyed with me because I was late and she ................................................... (wait) for a very long time.

9 I was sad when I sold my car. I ............................... (have) it for a very long time.

10 We were extremely tired at the end of the journey. We ........................................... (travel) for ages!

had been eating

was waiting

was looking

had been waiting

had been having

had been travelling