Past Perfect

Past Perfect

Poll

What is a past participle?

• the basic form of a verb

• a form of a verb that is used to show past action or to make perfect tenses and adjectives

• the form of a verb, ending in -ing in English, which is used in forming continuous tenses

• a verb form which functions as a noun

Open Ended

Type a past participle never changing

Open Ended

Type a past participle ending with '-t'

Open Ended

Type a past participle ending with '-OUGHT' or '-AUGHT'

Poll

What do you know about the past perfect?

• I'm an expert. Ask me anything!

• I've used it before and know what it is.

• I've heard of it before.

• What's that?

We use past perfect when:

• We talk about situations that happened before other actions in the past or a certain moment.

When exactly do we use the present perfect? Study the picture.

Multiple Choice

We use Past Perfect for an action which happened before another past action or before a stated time in the past.

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

What is the formula for the past perfect?

• Subject + has + past participle

• Subject + have + past participle

• Subject + past simple

• Subject + had + past participle

Past perfect tenses vs past simple

When the order of events in the past is not clear, or when we want to emphasise which action happened first, we can use the past perfect simple or the past perfect continuous for the first action.

EXAMPLE: Mona had done her shopping before she met her friend for lunch.

​How do we use the past perfect with the past simple?

We use the past perfect with the past simple when we talk about two actions or events in the past. We always use the past perfect for the action that happened first. We can link the two actions using a time expression.

​Time Expressions

Some time expressions we might see are:

• After

• When

• Until

• Before

• Already

• Up to then

If we look to the left, we can see how we would use the past simple and the past perfect together.

​

​Breakdown of past perfect with past simple

Multiple Choice

Which action happened first?

2. Elena realised later that she had left her sales receipt at the bookshop.

• realised

• had left her sales receipt

Multiple Choice

Which action happened first?

5. Dora went back home because she had forgotten her handbag.

• went back home

• had forgotten

Multiple Choice

Which event LIKELY happened first?

• He fell off the house.

• He broke his leg.

Multiple Choice

So... what's the BEST way to write the sentence?

• He had fallen off the house before he broke his leg.

• He had broken his leg before he fell off the house.

Multiple Choice

Which one LIKELY happened first?

• I bought a hot cup of coffee.

• I burned my tongue on the hot coffee.

Multiple Choice

So... what's the BEST sentence:

• I had burnt my tongue before I bought a hot cup of coffee.

• I had bought a hot cup of coffee before I burnt my tongue.

Multiple Choice

Which one LIKELY happened first?

• You told me to meet you at 11:00am

• You arrived at 11:30am

Multiple Choice

So... what's the BEST sentence:

• You had told me to meet you at 11:00am but you didn't arrive until 11:30am.

• You had arrived at 11:30am but you told me to meet you at 11:00am.

Multiple Choice

Select the option that completes the sentence correctly:

She _________________________ in this place before.

• have worked

• had worked

• has worked

• had work

Multiple Choice

Select the option that completes the sentence correctly:

My brother _____________________ that song before.

• had/songed

• has/singed

• had/sung

• had/singed

Multiple Choice

By the time the bell ..., I ... the test.

• had rung/had finished

• rang/was finished

• rang/had finished

Multiple Choice

The film..... by the time we got to the cinema.

• was started

• had start

• has started

• had started

Multiple Choice

That was the first time I ... salsa in a night club.

• had danced

• had dance

• danced

• didn't dance

Multiple Choice

I thought I knew her. I thought I ................ her before.

• had seen

• have seen

• saw

• did see

Multiple Choice

Before the police arrived, the thief _______ (got) away

• had gotten

• have been getting

• was getting

• got

Multiple Choice

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

• forgot

• forgetting

• had forgetting

• had forgotten

Multiple Choice

They _____ the project in time.

• have not completed

• had not complete

• hadn't completed

• hasn't completed

Multiple Choice

I ___ French before I moved to France.

• studied

• have studied

• had studied

• had study