The Tenses of The Verbs-6-The Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is best understood if it is called the " before" tense.When we wish to indicate that an event happened before another event in the past, we use the past perfect, it means to order the events in the past.

usage:

We use the past perfect to talk about something occurred before another action in the past

-The lesson had begun when we arrived .

Here in this sentence :two actions in the past :

1- The begining of the lesson

2- Our arrival

The first action "1" is in the simple past ,and the second action "2" is in the past perfect tense.

Important note:

The simple past can be used instead of the past perfect when before or after is used in the sentence.The words before and after actually tell you what happens first so the past perfect is optional .Look below, both sentences are correct:

- When we got the station,the train had left.

- The train left before we arrived .

The word before makes the order quite clear and the past perfect is unnecessary.

Form:

We form the past perfect with had + the third form of the verb "past participle "

- We hadn't thought about the consequences."negative"

- Had you already met him? "question"

Exercise:

Let's review the three tenses of the past in this exercise :

Change the infinitive in brackets to the past perfect ,simple past or past continuous:

1-He ( forget ) my name ,so I reminded him.

2-My teacher ( give ) me a good report last term.

3-While we ( walking ) out ,it started to rain.

4-The film ( start) when we arrived.

5- When he ( get) home the children were playing in the garden .

6-He was working there when the war ( break ) out.

7-He already ( finish ) his study ,when he came back home from London.

8- The fire had already destroyed much of the building when the firemen( arrive).

Thank you for reading

-Hala-

Tags: Grammar, Teacher-Hala, Tense

7 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Prostomolotova Galina on July 18, 2012 at 6:16

Hala, a great work, as usual! The explanation is so logical and clear. I like your ability to explain difficult things in a simple way. I'm going to learn something from you ( concerning teaching). I've already done the exercise (hope I did everything correctly). I did it with pleasure. Thanks for your great work, Hala!

Permalink Reply by Hala J.M on July 18, 2012 at 7:03

Thank you dear Galina for the encouraging words ,I appreciate that especially when they are from you ..a precious teacher and friend .

See you soon!

SpamBusterPermalink Reply by Ha Nguyen on July 18, 2012 at 6:44

Exercise:

1. He had forgotten my name, so I reminded him.

2. My teacher gave me a good report last term.

3. When we were walking out, it started to rain.

4. The film had started when we arrived.

5. When he got home, the children were playing in the garden.

6. He was working there when the war broke out.

7. He had already finished his study when he came back home from London.

8. The fire had already destroyed much of the building when the firemen arrived.

Permalink Reply by Hala J.M on July 21, 2012 at 21:27

Perfect answers Ha !

Thank you for sharing ..

SpamBusterPermalink Reply by Charos on July 18, 2012 at 8:04

Hello, teacher Hala! ;) Here is my version (may contain mistakes :)) :

1-He forgot my name, so I reminded him.

2-My teacher gave me a good report last term.

3-While we were walking out, it started to rain.

4-The film had started when we arrived.

5-When he got home the children were playing in the garden.

6-He was working there when the war broke out.

7-He already had finished his study, when he came back home from London.

8-The fire had already destroyed much of the building when the firemen arrived.

Permalink Reply by Hala J.M on July 21, 2012 at 21:33

Thank you Charos for participating and answering !

1- He had forgotten ..." Two actions in the past, one is older than the other ,so it is in the past perfect tense"

7-He had already finished....."We put already between had or have + the third form of the verb."

Good job ! Thanks again

Permalink Reply by mitran on July 18, 2012 at 8:46

My dear Teachers….huh..I’m still busy but I don’t want to miss your lesson. Here is mine…. See you Saturday…I’m hurry now. Hope I don’t make any mistake…. Take care

Change the infinitive in brackets to the past perfect ,simple past or past continuous:

1-He had forgotten my name ,so I reminded him.

2-My teacher gave me a good report last term.

3-While we were walking out ,it started to rain.

4-The film had started when we arrived.

5- When he got home the children were playing in the garden .

6-He was working there when the war broke out.

7-He had already finished his study ,when he came back home from London.

8- The fire had already destroyed much of the building when the firemen arrived.

Permalink Reply by Hala J.M on July 21, 2012 at 21:36

Dear Mitran ,

Perfect answers ! Thank you

see u soon!

Permalink Reply by Pagali: back on July 18, 2012 at 8:59

Exercise:

1- He forgot my name, so I reminded him.

2- My teacher gave me a good report last term.

3- While we were walking out, it started to rain.

4- The film had started when we arrived.

5- When he got home the children were playing in the garden.

6- He was working there when the war broke out.

7- He already had finished his study, when he came back home from London.

8- The fire had already destroyed much of the building when the firemen arrived.

Permalink Reply by Hala J.M on July 21, 2012 at 21:39

@Pagali :

1-He had forgotten ....

7- He had already finished ...

Good answers ! Thank you so much for sharing .

Permalink Reply by Hala J.M on July 21, 2012 at 21:46

@Lolo-yaya:

I know these tenses are a bit confused ..so don't worry ,you have good answers but:

1- Had forgotten ...

7 -Had already finished ..

When we have two actions in the past one happened before the other ...the first action "the oldest" is in the past perfect ,and the second action is in the simple past"

Thank you for sharing dear ,

Best wishes

Permalink Reply by cham nguyen on July 18, 2012 at 16:50