Past perfect

Task 1

Read the rules of Past Perfect and make up your own examples.

Past Perfect is formed:

had + 3rd form of the verb

had gone
hadnt gone

Past Perfect is used:

a. for a past action which happened before another past action or before a stated
past time
- e.g.
b. for a complete action
- e.g.
c. as the past equivalent of Present Perfect
- e.g.
Time expressions used with Past Perfect
before, after, just, yet, already, for, since, ever, never, till/until, when by, by the time, etc.

e.g.

Task 2 Complete the sentences using the words in brackets. You will need to add articles,
prepositions etc.

1. Louise wasnt hungry because she

(have / big lunch / vegetarian restaurant downtown)
2. I didnt know who she was because I .
(not meet / she / before)
3. The police arrived because somebody ..............
(rob / local bank)
4. John couldnt come to the classes yesterday because he .......

(break / his leg / skiing accident)

5. Laura didnt want to go to the cinema because she ....
(see / the film / before)

Task 3 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in the past perfect or

the past simple tense.

1. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Samanthas birthday party, all the guests .

home so we did not meet anybody. (go)
2. I didnt take a map with me so obviously I .. in London. (get lost)
3. I was really surprised when I heard that Steven .. his exams. (fail)
4. Marvin returned to his home town after 15 years and he could not believe how much it
(change)
5. I did not get any reply to my email so I .. to phone them. (decide)
6. I drank too much at the party and thats why I this terrible hangover the next
day. (have)
7. I woke up almost half an hour late because I .. to set my alarm clock. (forget)
Task 4 Put the verbs in brackets into Past Perfect or Past Simple

After Jim and Terry _____________ (finish) their breakfast, they _____________ (take) their bags
and _____________ (go) to the river to fish. They _____________ (go) there before and
_____________ (catch) some big fish. By 5 oclock they _____________ (not/get) any fish, so they
decided to go home. They _____________ (promise) their mother to bring fish for dinner, so they
_____________ ( look) for a shop where they could buy some but the shops _____________
(already/close). When they _____________ (arrive) home, they _____________ (tell) their mother
that they _____________ (catch) the biggest fish they _____________ (ever/see) but it v (escape).

Task 5 Read the story and put in the missing verbs from the box.
Became

Gave

Make

Reached

Caught

Got

Make sure

Set out

Could

Had finished

Met

Slept

Decided

Had left

Misread

Understand

Drove

Hitchhiking

Missed

Welcomed

Explained

Know

Persuade

Were sent

Found

Lost

Put

Woke up

The Longest Day

This story happened a few years ago when British people could go on a day trip to France without a
passport. It is about a Mrs and Mrs. Elham who went on a day trip to Boulogne.
When they _____________ their shopping, the couple _____________ for a walk to see the sights of
the town.
Unfortunately, they didnt _____________ much French and couldnt really
_____________ the street signs, so they _____________ completely lost. The French people they
_____________ were very kind and eventually they _____________ a lift to the railway station.
As the last ferry _____________, the Elhams _____________ to go to Paris and _____________
their way back to Dover from there. Unfortunately, they _____________ the wrong train and
_____________ themselves the next morning in Luxembourg! The local police _____________
(the confused passengers on a train for Paris and they _____________ most of the way all too
soundly in fact, for they _____________ their connection and _____________ in Basel in
Switzerland!
The obliging Swiss police _____________ the couple directions back to Boulaogne but somehow the
y_____________ their way again and ended up _____________ over sixty kilometers to Vesoul in
central France. A long-distance lorry dirver gave the confused couple a lift to Paris, but when they
_____________ the Gare du Nord, their troubles were not over.
We _____________ the signs, Mrs. Elham _____________ and took the train to Bonn in Germany.
From Germany the Elhams _____________ quickly back to France. At the border, a sympathetic
gendarme decided to _____________ they got to Boulogne safely, so he _____________ them all
the way there.
As they didnt have passports, it took twenty-four hours to _____________ the Customs that their
unreal story _____________ possibly be true. But at last they were allowed on a ferry and soon the
familiar white cliffs of Dover _____________ the Elhams back to England.

Speaking Activity
STATEMENT
Find someone who
had studied English before 2009.
had been born before 1998.
had finished primary school before 2007.
had had a phone before 2008.
had used a computer before last month.
had learnt Chinese before 2010.
had had a bike before 2008.

Example: A: Had you studied English before 2009?

B: Yes, I had. / No, I hadnt.

NAME

GRAMMAR
1. FORM:
a I, YOU,WE, THEY HAVE BEEN + V-ING
as in We have been talking
b HE, SHE, IT HAS BEEN V-ING
as in It has been snowing
AFFIRMATIVE, NEGATIVE,
INTERROGATIVE:
We have been waiting for her for two
hours.
You havent been doing anything lately!
Have you been working out? Youre so fit!
How long have we been waiting for her?
What has she been doing?

PRACTICE
Complete the dialogues between a writer and a reporter
using the Present Perfect Continuous and the necessary
prepositions:
R: How long ___________________
__________ ( you- write) books?1
W: ________________________2
them _____3 five years... .
___________

R: How long __________________

__________________in Africa?4
W: I ______________ 5 (live) in Africa
______ 61998.
R: How long ________________
_______ 7 (your guide work) with you?
W: He ______________________
_____8 (work) with me ___ 9two years.

2 . USAGE:
a This verb tense stresses the duration
of the action. Prepositions since and for
can be used.
She has been playing in the garden for
hours. (shes still there)
b Its also used to describe a long action
that began in the past and has just
stopped. The
result of the action is clear or implied.
It has been raining. The ground is still
wet.
c. We can also use it to talk about
something that has been in progress
recently or lately.
You look wonderful! Have you been working
out lately?
Have you been smoking recently? I can
smell cigarette smoke here!
You havent been taking things seriously
lately.

R: What else _________________

______________(you-do) in Africa?10
W: I_________________________
(take)11 photos for my guidebook.
R: How long ___________________
(travel)12 around Kenya?
W:____________________________
13
(I - travel) _______14 6 a.m.
R:___________________________
15
(you-walk) around Kenya!?
W: I _________________________
(drive)16 and ______________(walk)17
and _______________(walk)12
R: __________________________
(you - ride)18 elephants too?
W: No, I _______19. But I _________
____________ (send)20 photos of
elephants and many other animals to
some magazines. Ive sold most of my
photos. I ___________________
(think)21 of becoming a full time
photographer.
R: _________________________
_________ 22 (I-consider) changing my
job ______23 two years!

Notes

Complete the story, writing the correct tense

and form of the verbs between brackets

The Past Perfect Tense

A Rainforest Adventure

Form:
Affirmative: subject + had + past participle
I had finished my homework when she arrived.
Negative: subject + hadnt + past participle.
She was hungry because she hadnt had lunch.
Interrogative: Had + subject + past participle
Had she studied French before she went to
Paris ?
Use:
We use the Past Perfect to express:

Last summer, four friends Tom, Jack, Sally and

Samantha - ............................... 1 (travel) with their
families to the Amazon rainforest on holiday. The
teenagers
................................................. 2(not be
supposed) to walk through the forest on their own
but they ........................................ 3 ( not resist)
having a rainforest adventure!
They ...................................4(set) off early in the
morning with a pair of binoculars, a matchbox, a
camera, a torch, some sandwiches and some water

1 Something that had happened before

something else took place.
When I got home, he had already left.

in their rucksacks. At the last minute, Sally and

(* we use the Past Simple in the second action ).

too tired.

2 A past situation with a hypothetical

result (Conditional 3).

Tom .........................................

If I had known you were coming, I

I would have made a cake.
3. We often use by the time, when, before,
after, as soon as to make sentences with the
Past Simple and the Past Perfect.
Past Simple
Use the past simple to talk about activities
which took place at a specified time in the past
(the time may be clear or implied in the
context.)
Did you meet him last week?
I saw your sister at the party two weeks ago.
. We didnt know the answer to question n.2.
Past Continuous

Samantha

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

(decide)

not

to

go,

because they ...............................6(think) theyd get

(take) landscape

photos while Jack .......... ........................... 8(try) to

observe the birds and animals with his binoculars.
Under a huge old tree, they ................... 9(find) a
10

canoe that ...................................................

(certainly

be) there for a long time because it was covered

with a heap of dry branches and leaves. The boys
.............................

11

(have) so much fun that

they

12

............................................................... (completely
forget)

to mark their

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

way on the map. They

13

(see) so many beautiful birds

and noisy monkeys leaping from branch to branch,

they

...................................14(hear)

sounds

such

as they .......................................

through

the

strange
15

forest!

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

(walk)
They

16

(never

experience)

Use the Past Continuous

anything like that before. At about midday, the

1 for a longer action in the past

was when they....................................

They were travelling around the world for

most of the year in 2010.
2 actions that were in progress when another
action was completed.
They were staying at a five star hotel when
they threw the fruit pies at one another.

boys ........................
that

the

girls

17

(be) hungry and thirsty. That

18

(remember)

19

the

and

without

............................... (put)

sandwiches in their rucksacks.

Now, with no mobile phones

anything to eat, what would they do?

Part 3

Part 2
Tom and Jack ................................

The woman .........................40 (go) out and soon

20

(continue) walking but they ................

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

( be) tired and worried. Jack

sweets. She ..................

21

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

22

(do) what he could to

41

(come) back with some fruit and

42

(put) an oil lamp on a

small table and ..........................

43

(offer) them

show optimism. Look! If we take that

some coconut water. The boys ................44 (be)

track, well get back in no time! Its a

too tired. They ......................

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

shortcut to the village, he said.

45

(fall) asleep and

46

(wake) up when the sun

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

47

...................... (rise). A cock .....................................

Time .............................

23

(go) by and

the boys ..........................

24

(not know)

what to do. It ...............................

48

(crow) as the nice old couple ...................

(walk)

to

the

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

25

spot

50

where

the

49

boys

(see) an old wooden boat the

(get) darker and darker and they still

day before. The boys and the old couple

couldnt see the lights of the village.

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

Dont you think we should camp under

(raise) it above their heads and .............................

that tree and wait till dawn to go on? ,

53

(carry)

it

51

(lift) it, ...............................

to

the

Tom asked. I think youre right, Tom,

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

54

Jack answered. If we ..........................

Half

hour

26

................................ (arrive)

(help) the girls pack our things, we

an

river.

Then,

52

they

(row) down the winding river.

55

later,
at

the
the

boys
boatyard

wouldnt have ended up starving in the

where their families .............................................

forest, he added.

56

(wait) for them. Thank goodness, youre

safe!, Jacks father ...........................

Although they .................................

27

(not

as the boat ..................................

57

(shout)

58

(get) near the

talk) about their fears, they .............

shore. And thank you for helping our boys,

28

their

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

simply................................59(smile) and .....................

......................................29(prepare) to lie

60

(be) totally confused. While they

down under a big tree and spend the

night in the darkness of the forest,
Tom ..................

30

(see) lights twinkling

in a small wooden house built on stilts

by the river. The boys .....................

31

(look) at each other and ...........................

32

(start) to run down the path. Before

long, they ......................

......................33(knock) at the little
house door. An old couple
.................................................
34

(answer) it, ...........................35 (smile)

at them, but they couldnt understand

their language. Even so, they must have
understood that they boys
............................... 36 ( get) lost in the
forest. So they ..................................37
(invite) them to go in with a wave and a
smile. The old lady ...................................
38

(open) a room door and ..................39

(show) them some mats where they

could sit.

mothers said to the old couple. They

(wave) at the people around them