Past perfect tense

3.1 The past perfect tense is formed by had + past participle (had done, had gone, had finished, etc.).
We use this tense to talk about an action which took place before another past action.

Like the present perfect tense, the

past perfect tense is often used with
adverbs like already, ever, never, just,
Oh no, I’m late!
since (a point of time in the past), etc. The film started
The boy was late. The film had 30 minutes ago.
already started when he got to
the cinema.

The boy was late. The film had started when he got to the cinema.

3.2 We usually use the past perfect tense when we want to make the order of past actions clear,
especially when we do not talk about them in the order that they happened.
* Compare:
When Sally arrived at the café, Josh had already left. I forgot my password, so I could
not log on to my microblog.
I could not log on to my microblog because I had forgotten the password.* (events described in the order that
they happened)
When the order of past actions is clear (for example, because words like after and before are used),
we usually use the simple past tense, but it is also possible to use the past perfect tense.
The door closed/had closed before I got to the lift.
After he finished/had finished his homework, he went to bed.

When we talk about a series of past actions in the order that they happened, we usually use
the simple past tense.
He entered the room, turned on the TV and sat on the sofa to watch the match.

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 Compare:

When Jack arrived, the meeting started.
(The two actions are described in the order
that they happened, i.e. the people waited
until Jack arrived, and then they started the
meeting.)
When Jackie arrived, the meeting had started.
(The two actions are not described in the order
that they happened, i.e. the meeting started
before Jackie’s arrival. When she got there,
the meeting was already in progress.)

We do not use the past perfect tense to talk about a single past action.
✗ I had seen Miss Wong yesterday. (past perfect)
✓ I saw Miss Wong yesterday. (simple past)
However, when it is clear from the context that one action was completed earlier than another,
it is correct to use the past perfect tense.
A: Did you go to the cinema with your brother last night?
B: No, I had seen the film already.
Compare:
A: Did you go to the cinema with your brother last night?
B: No, I didn’t like the film that was showing.

3.3 The past perfect is the past form of the present perfect.

Present perfect Past perfect

I am hungry. I have not eaten anything Paul invited me to tea yesterday. I gladly
since breakfast. accepted because I had not eaten anything
since breakfast, so I was very hungry.

She isn’t online. She has not finished She wasn’t online last night. She had not
her homework. finished her homework.

‘Has Tom returned your novel? Can I Had Tom returned your novel when Ann
borrow it?’ Ann asked. asked about it?

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Practice

A Complete these sentences using the past perfect tense of the given verbs.

1 We couldn’t send the email. Our computer had broken (break) down.

2 She was disappointed because her son had failed (fail) the test.

3 My sister had to stay in bed yesterday. She had caught (catch) a cold.

4 Mrs Chan was angry with her husband. He had forgotten (forget) her birthday.

5 I called her last night, but she had gone (go) to bed.

6 The river was dry – it had not rained (not/rain) for months.

7 John was upset because his team had lost (lose) the game.

8 Mr Chan was very tired when he got home. He had had (have) a hard day.

9 Susan couldn’t tell us if the new restaurant was any good or not. She had not been

(not/be) there herself.

10 John’s sister wasn’t home when I visited him. She had left (leave) for her new
job in Shanghai.

11 I didn’t wear my favourite jacket to the party because my mother had taken (take)
it to be dry cleaned.

B Choose the correct answers and fill in the blanks.

1 I didn‛t feel well last night, so I went to bed early. didn’t feel/hadn’t felt
2 The house was vacant. The tenant had moved out . moved out/had moved out
3 My sister didn’t go to school yesterday. She had had/had had
a fever.
4 He didn’t go to the restaurant with us because he had had had/had had
dinner already.
5 The rain had stopped before I left this morning, so I had stopped/has stopped
went out without my umbrella.
6 Sally phoned me last night just as I was going to bed. phoned/had phoned
7 I didn’t see Janet at the party. She had left when I left/had left
got there.
had lied lied/had lied
8 She was angry when she found out that her boyfriend
to her during their argument.

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 has been has been/had been
9 We can’t use the lift. It out of service
since yesterday.
10 We had better stay at home. The rain has not stopped . has not stopped/had not stopped

C Complete these exchanges. Use either the past perfect tense or simple past tense of the given verbs.
1 A: Did you post the parcel yesterday?
B: No, the post office had closed (close) by the time I got there.

2 A: Did you see Mike at the party?

B: No, he did not come (not/come).

3 A: Can you show me the photos you took in Beijing?

B: Sorry, but I did not take (not/take) any photos while I was there.

4 A: Where’s Jenny?
B: I’ve no idea. She was not (not/be) here when I arrived.

5 A: Have you got the book?

B: No, Kate had already given (already/give) the book back to Joe when I asked to
borrow it. I will ask Joe about it tomorrow.
6 A: Was it Jacky that answered the phone?
B: No, it was his sister. Jacky had already gone (already/go) to bed.

7 A: John was upset yesterday. Why were you angry with him?
B: He had read/read (read) my diary.

8 A: Did you go to Lucy’s party?

B: No, she did not/didn't invite (not/invite) me.

9 A: I met Carol yesterday.

Did she say
B: (she/say) anything about her plans for the holiday?

10 A: I went to her house but she wasn’t there.

had she gone/did she go
B: Where (she/go)?

11 A: I haven’t seen you for a long time. Where have you been?
B: I went (go) to visit my aunt and uncle in Sydney and only
returned (return) last week.

12 A: We had a big surprise when we returned from our holiday. Somebody had broken into our flat.
B: Did you call (you/call) the police?

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D Decide if the underlined verbs are in the right form. Put a tick (✓) in the blank if the underlined verb is
correct. If not, write your correction in the given space. The first two have been done for you as examples.

1 I had been tired when I got home. was tired

2 It was warm and sunny yesterday, so we went to the beach for a swim. ✓

3 I was glad to see her again. We did not see each other for a long time. had not seen

4 The man was a complete stranger to me. I hadn’t seen him before. ✓

5 The old woman was nervous. She had never flown before. ✓

6 She did some reading before she had gone to bed last night. went

7 She was my neighbour years ago. We have lost contact after she moved lost
to Tuen Mun.
8 The girl screamed when she saw the snake. ✓

9 We asked Peter, but he did not hear the news either. had not heard

10 She had asked us to wait for her. She said she wouldn’t be long. asked

11 Kate was in hospital. She had broken her leg. broke/✓

12 ‘I’m sorry I was late last night.’ ‘That’s OK. We have not waited long.’ had not waited

E Yesterday was a bad day for Eric. Complete the story using the correct form of the given verbs.

got had forgotten

Eric (1) (get) up late yesterday morning. He (2) (forget)
to set his alarm clock before going to bed the previous night. He (3) left (leave)
home in a hurry without having breakfast.

When he (4) got (get) to the bus stop, the school bus
(5) had left (leave). The first lesson (6) had started (start)
when he (7) got (get) to school. During the English
lesson, he found that he (8) had left (leave) his
workbook at home.

When he got home after school, he (9) found (find)

that the lift in his building (10) had broken (break) down. After walking all
the way up the stairs, he discovered that he (11) had lost (lose)
the key to his flat. He (12) was (be) thirsty.
He thought he would have something to drink.

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 He (13) walked (walk) down the stairs and went to the fast food shop nearby.
After that, he (14) went (go) to the park. He was going to call his sister
had forgotten
when he found that he (15) (forget) his mobile phone when he
ran
left the fast food shop. He (16) (run) back to the
fast food shop, but the mobile phone (17) was not (not/be) there.
He decided to go back to his building and wait.

The sun (18) had set (set) when his sister arrived. He
told her that he (19) had lost (lose) his key. Unfortunately, his sister
(20) did not have (not/have) her key either. ‘We'll have to wait for Mum
or Dad,’ she said.

F Complete this telephone conversation using the present perfect, simple past or past perfect tense
of the given verbs.

Judy Is that you Brian? This is Judy.

Brian Hi, Judy. When (1) did you return (you/return) from Beijing?
have just got
Judy I (2) (just/get) home from the airport, actually.

Brian How (3) did you like (you/like) your trip?

Judy It was great. My aunt (4) took (take) me to different places.

I (5) enjoyed (enjoy) the sights and the family visits, too.

Brian (6) Did you take (you/take) any pictures?

Judy Oh, yes, a lot. I’ll show you when we get together.
Brian Sure. (7) Did you see (you/see) Paul when you were there?

Judy No, he (8) had gone (go) on a business trip and (9) had not

returned (not/return) to Beijing when I left.

Brian What about his sister? (10) Did you see (you/see) her?

Judy Yes. She (11) had just come (just/come) back from Shanghai the afternoon
I got to Beijing. We (12) had (have) a long chat in my hotel
room that night.
Brian You two must have had a lot to catch up on.
Judy We certainly did. By the way, Brian, it (13) snowed (snow) the second
day I was there. I was quite excited because I (14) had never seen (never/see)
snow before.
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G There has been a serious road accident. A police officer is asking the witnesses some questions. Complete
their conversations using the correct form of the given verbs.

Police officer Can you tell me what (1) happened (happen)?

Witness 1 Oh, it was horrible! The bus (2) failed (fail) to stop
in time at the traffic lights.
broke down
Police officer That’s because the traffic lights (3) (break down)
this morning.

Witness 1 Someone should have fixed then!

Police officer Was there anyone crossing the road?

Witness 1 Yes, some children (4) had started/started (start) crossing before
the bus (5) stopped (stop).

Police officer What did the children do?

Witness 1 They screamed and ran. It all (6) happened (happen)

so fast! No one (7) had seen/saw (see) the bus coming.
I (8) heard (hear) them screaming.

Police officer Where were you when the accident happened?

Witness 1 I was watching the whole scene from the pavement. I (9) had just finished

(just/finish) my lunch in the restaurant at the corner. The accident

(10) occured (occur) right after I (11) had left/left

(leave) the restaurant.

Police officer Okay, that’s fine. Thank you.

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Police officer What (12) were you doing (you/do) when the accident
happened?

Witness 2 I was driving. I (13) looked/had looked (look) in the mirror a few
moments before. I (14) did not/didn't think (not/think) that the car
behind would bump into me.

Police officer What happened afterwards?

Witness 2 There was a loud noise so I looked back to see what the matter was.
A bus (15) had hit (hit) the people who were crossing
the road behind me!

Police officer What did you do then? Did you call the police?

Witness 2 No, somebody (16) had called (call) them already. I

immediately (17) got (get) out of my car. I
(18) learnt/learned (learn) first aid on a course last month.
There were two injured people. I (19) tried (try) to
help them based on what my instructor (20) had taught

(teach) us on the first aid course.

Police officer I see. Thank you.

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 H Use the correct form of each verb in the margin once to complete Monica’s thank-you letter.

cook
eat/never Dear Carol
go
have
I am writing to thank you for the fantastic time I (1) had with you
make
while I was in Taipei. You are a wonderful host. You (2) made me feel
meet
not/have did not/didn't know
at home while I was there. Frankly, I (3) that you were such
not/know
not/tell a great cook. My mouth still (4) waters whenever I think of those
return/just
wonderful dishes you (5) cooked .
stay
visit/certainly
water Also, thank you for showing me around Taipei and for taking me to try the street food
there . I (6) have never eaten so many tasty treats before. I (7) will certainly visit

Taipei again!

Thanks again for your kind hospitality. Please let me know if you have any plans to visit
Hong Kong. It would be my pleasure to show you around here.

Love

Monica

P.S. I (8) met Lucy yesterday at the airport. She (9) had just returned

from Taipei as well. She went there to visit her grandmother and she (10) stayed

there for a month. You know what? When I told her that I (11) had gone

to visit you, she asked why I (12) had not told her earlier! How could
I have told her? I (13) did not/didn't have her contact number!

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