LESSON 10

THE PAST PERFECT

Lesson Goals:
 Correctly use past perfect and simple past in a
single sentence
 Correctly form past perfect sentences
 Understand the meanings of before, after, by the
time, and by
 Use past perfect and the present perfect in the
right situations

OPENING TASK
 Lesson 10: Past Perfect

Family Changes

STEP 1: Family Tree A shows Tom’s family when he left home in 1985 to
travel around the world. Work with a partner to study Family Tree A. Note that
= married

Albert Santos Annie Reyes

1898-1991 1908

Bernard Kathy Andres William Eliza Bernardo

1930 1938 1934 1939

Rose Mark Ann Lim Kay Tom Liza

1963 1951 1961 1963 1965 1966

FAMILY TREE A

STEP 2: Now look at Family Tree B, which shows Tom’s Family after he returned
home from his world travels in 1993. What changes do you notice in Tom’s Family?
Albert Santos Annie Reyes
1898-1991 1908

Bernard Kathy Andres William Eliza Bernardo

1930 1938 1934 1939

Rose Mark Ann Lim Kay Roy Tan Tom Liza Tim Yan
1963 1951 1961 1963 1958 1965 1966 1948
Jim Gallo
1964
Tessa Barry Gary Sam Laura Ray Cheng
1989 1991 1992 1992 1990 1971

FAMILY TREE B

STEP 3: Make at least five statements about the changes that had taken place when
Tom returned from his travels. Start these statements with:

intensiveenglishcourse zjsasuncion 73
 Lesson 10: Past Perfect

When Tom returned ….

Or Tom returned after…
Or By the time Tom returned …

1. When Tom returned to his family?

He has had a niece Laura from his sister Kay since 1990.
2. Tom returned after his travel.
He has had a nephew Gary and niece Sam from his brother Mark since 1992.
3. By the time Tom returned for his family.
He has had a brother in-law from his sister Liza.
4. When Tom returned here in the Philippines.
He had met Tessa and Barry.
5. Tom returned after his world travel in 1993.
He had not seen Tim Yan.
6. When Tom returned from his travel.
He had not met Jim Gano as his brother in-law.

PAST PERFECT AND SIMPLE PAST

EXAMPLES EXPLANATIONS
When I got there, he had eaten all the When two events both happened in the
cookies. past:
 use the past perfect for the first
First, he ate the cookies; then I got there. (earliest) event.
(I didn’t see him eat the cookies.)  Use the simple past for the second
(most recent) event.

To form the past perfect, use had + past participle.

STATEMENT NEGATIVE QUESTION SHORT

ANSWER
I I I
You had You had not you
WE arrived WE arrived Had we arrived? Yes we had.
They (‘d) They (hadn’t) they

She had She had not she

He arrived He arrived he No she had not.
It (‘d) It (hadn’t) Had it (hadn’t)
arrived?

intensiveenglishcourse zjsasuncion 74
 Lesson 10: Past Perfect

Exercise 1
Look at the Family Trees in the Opening Task to complete the statements. If there is a
verb in parentheses, use it; otherwise, use any appropriate verb. The first one has been
done for you.

1. When he returned home, Tom found that his grandfather (die) ____had died___.
2. When Tom returned, he learned that his cousin ____had son and daughter_____.
3. Tom arrived home to find that his sister Liza ___had married_______________.
4. When __Tom returned home_, his sister Kay had married to Roy Tan in addition,
she and her husband _had daughter Laura__.
5. On his return home, Tom found that his brother and sister-in-law _had _son and
daughter.
6. Tom learned that his grandmother had experienced both sorrow and joy. On the
one hand, she (lose) ___had lost______, but on the other hand, she (gain) _had
gained weight__.
7. Sam and Gary have never met their grandfather, because he ___had died___
before they __had been born_.
8. By the time Tom got back home, his parents and his aunt and uncle (become)
__had become old.
9. Tom also found that Rose __has_had a__children, but she (not)_had not
married__. Liza, on the other hand, ___had married_______ three times, but she
(not) ___ had not_any children.

Exercise 2

In the following pairs of statements, decide which event probably happened first. Write 1
beside the event that you think happened first and 2 beside the one you think happened
second. Then combine the statements to make one sentence using because. The first one
has been done for you.

Example: My legs ached. 2

I played tennis. 1
My legs ached because I had played tennis.

1. His car broke down.1

He took the bus.2
He had taken the bus because his car broke down.
2. Charlotte was depressed.2
She failed her English exam. 1
Charlotte was depressed because she had failed her English exam.
3. Tanya sat in the sun all afternoon.1
Her skin was very red.2

intensiveenglishcourse zjsasuncion 75
 Lesson 10: Past Perfect

Her skin was very red because she had sat in the sun all afternoon.

4. We didn’t eat all day.1

We were really hungry.2
We were really hungry because we had not eaten all day.

5. Brenda’s clothes were too tight.2

She didn’t exercise for several months.1
Brenda’s clothes were too tight because she had not exercise for several months.

6. Neville couldn’t sleep.2

He drank several cups of very strong coffee.1
Neville couldn’t sleep because he had drunk several cups of very strong coffee.

7. We studied hard for three weeks.1

We thought the test was difficult.2
We thought the test was difficult because we had studied hard for three weeks.

8. I felt very tired yesterday morning.2

I didn’t sleep well.1
I felt very tired yesterday morning because I had not sleep well.

BEFORE, AFTER, BY THE TIME, BY

EXAMPLES EXPLANATIONS
First Event Second Event Before, after, and by the time
a) She had left before I arrived. show the order of events.
b) She had left by the time I arrived.
c) After she had left, I arrived. You can use the past perfect
d) She left before I arrived. with before and after, but it is
e) After she left, I arrived. not necessary. You must use
f) He had finished all the past perfect in sentences
His shopping by Christmas. with by the time.

By + a noun phrase can also

show order of events.
Punctuation note: Use a comma
after a clause with before or
after if the clause comes first.

intensiveenglishcourse zjsasuncion 76
 Lesson 10: Past Perfect

PAST PERFECT VERSUS PRESENT PERFECT

EXAMPLES EXPLANATIONS
a) She was tired yesterday because she Use the past perfect to contrast two events
had taken a long bike ride. in the past.
b) She is tired (now) because she has Use the present perfect to connect the past
taken a long bike ride. with the present.

intensiveenglishcourse zjsasuncion 77