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

hadn’t 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 wasn’t hungry because she ……………………………………………………

(have / big lunch / vegetarian restaurant downtown)

2. I didn’t know who she was because I ……………………………………………….

(not meet / she / before)

3. The police arrived because somebody ………………………………………………..............

(rob / local bank)

4. John couldn’t come to the classes yesterday because he ………………………….......

(break / his leg / skiing accident)

5. Laura didn’t 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 Samantha’s birthday party, all the guests ………………………….

home so we did not meet anybody. (go) 2. I didn’t 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 that’s 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 o’clock 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

Caught

Could

Decided

Drove

Explained

Found

Gave

Got

Had finished

Had left

Hitchhiking

Know

Lost

Make

Make sure

Met

Misread

Missed

Persuade

Put

Reached

Set out

Slept

Understand

Welcomed

Were sent

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 didn’t _____________ much French and couldn’t 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 didn’t 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 NAME

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 hadn’t.

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 haven’t been doing anything lately!

Have you been working out? You’re so fit!

How long have we been waiting for her?

What has she been doing?

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. (she’s still there)

b It’s 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 haven’t been taking things seriously

lately.

GRAMMAR

Complete the dialogues between a writer and a reporter

using the Present Perfect Continuous and the necessary

prepositions:

PRACTICE

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.

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. I’ve sold most of my

photos. I ___________________

(think)21 of becoming a full time

photographer.

R: _________________________

_________ 22 (I-consider) changing my

job ______23 two years!

The Past Perfect Tense

Form:

Affirmative: subject + had + past participle

I had finished my homework when she arrived.

Negative: subject + hadn’t + past participle.

She was hungry because she hadn’t had lunch.

Interrogative: Had + subject + past participle

Had she studied French before she went to

Paris ?

Use:

We use the Past Perfect to express:

1 Something that had happened before

something else took place.

When I got home, he had already left.

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

2 A past situation with a hypothetical

result (Conditional 3).

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 didn’t know the answer to question n.2.

Past Continuous

Use the Past Continuous

1 for a longer action in the past

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.

Notes

A Rainforest Adventure

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

in their rucksacks. At the last minute, Sally and

Samantha ...................... 5(decide) not to go,

because they ...............................6(think) they’d get

too tired.

Tom ......................................... 7 (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

canoe that ................................................... 10(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) such strange

sounds as they ....................................... 15 (walk)

through the forest! They

................................................ 16(never experience)

anything like that before. At about midday, the

boys ........................ 17(be) hungry and thirsty. That

was when they.................................... 18(remember)

that the girls ...............................19(put) the

sandwiches in their rucksacks.

Now, with no mobile phones and without

anything to eat, what would they do?

Complete the story, writing the correct tense

and form of the verbs between brackets

Part 2

Tom and Jack ................................ 20(continue) walking but they ................ 21 ( be) tired and worried. Jack

..................... 22(do) what he could to

show optimism. ‘ Look! If we take that

track, we’ll get back in no time! It’s a

shortcut to the village′, he said.

Time ............................. 23(go) by and

the boys .......................... 24(not know)

what to do. It ............................... 25

(get) darker and darker and they still

couldn’t see the lights of the village.

′Don’t you think we should camp under

that tree and wait till dawn to go on? ′,

Tom asked. ′I think you’re right, Tom’,

Jack answered. ′If we .......................... 26 (help) the girls pack our things, we

wouldn’t have ended up starving in the

forest′, he added.

Although they ................................. 27(not

talk) about their fears, they ............. 28(be) totally confused. While they

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

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

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 couldn’t 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.

Part 3

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

..................... 41(come) back with some fruit and

sweets. She .................. 42 (put) an oil lamp on a

small table and .......................... 43(offer) them

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

too tired. They ...................... 45(fall) asleep and

................... 46(wake) up when the sun .............

......................47(rise). A cock ..................................... 48 (crow) as the nice old couple ................... 49

(walk) to the spot where the boys

.............................. 50 (see) an old wooden boat the

day before. The boys and the old couple

.............................. 51(lift) it, ............................... 52

(raise) it above their heads and ............................. 53(carry) it to the river. Then, they

.......................... 54(row) down the winding river.

Half an hour later, the boys

................................55(arrive) at the boatyard

where their families ............................................. 56(wait) for them. ′Thank goodness, you’re

safe!′, Jack’s father ........................... 57(shout)

as the boat .................................. 58(get) near the

shore. ′And thank you for helping our boys′,

their mothers said to the old couple. They

simply................................59(smile) and ..................... 60(wave) at the people around them