Lesson 6

The Past Perfect Simple

1- Why do we need the past perfect simple tense?
2- Comparison between the past simple and the past perfect simple
3- Reading and vocabulary
4- Exercises
5- Homework
The Past Perfect Simple
 Form with Verb “have”

Present Simple
I have a car.

Past Simple
I had a car.

Past Perfect Simple

Had + Past Participle (of the main verb)

Have  had
I have a car.
I had had a car.

I had had a car before I bought a plane.

 Form with Verb “be”

Present Simple
I am sick.

Past Simple
I was sick.

Past Perfect Simple

Had + Past Participle (of the main verb)

be  was/were  been
I had been sick.

Before I went to visit my friend Ahmed yesterday, I had been sick.

 Form with Verb “do”

Present Simple
I do my homework every day.

Past Simple
I did my homework yesterday.

Past Perfect Simple

Had + Past Participle (of the main verb)

do  did done
I had done my homework.

Before I went to visit my friend Ahmed yesterday, I had done my

homework.
Past Perfect: had + P.P

Have breakfast
Eat breakfast

I had breakfast in the morning.

I didn’t have breakfast in the morning. I’m very hungry.

I had eaten breakfast before I left home.

I hadn’t eaten breakfast before I left home.

I had had breakfast before I left home.

I hadn’t had breakfast before I left home.
 Time Markers

By the time I arrived at the train station, Ahmed had already left.

Before I went to the school, I had been to Ahmed’s.

When I met the couple, they had been married for two years.
Do I have to use the past simple?

This is a lot more complicated than I had

anticipated.

He had seen horrible things.

I had been engaged twice.

 More Examples

I couldn’t buy a new computer because I had spent all my money.

Ahmed failed his exam because he had not studied.

Mona couldn’t pay for lunch because she had lost her purse.

I couldn’t sleep last night because I had watched a scary movie.

I bought a new camera yesterday because I had lost my old one.

I couldn’t call Peter because I had lost his phone number.

 The Titanic

Nobody had believed it was possible.

In 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg on its first trip across the Atlantic, and it sank four hours
later. At that time, the Titanic was the largest ship that had ever traveled. It was carrying
2207 people, but it had taken on enough lifeboats for only 1178 people. When the
passengers tried to leave the ship, only 651 of them were able to get into lifeboats.
The Carpathia was 58 miles away when the Titanic called for help. It arrived two hours
after the great ship had gone down, and it saved 705 people. Some of the survivors had
been in the icy water for hours when they were saved. Most of the passengers had not lived
that long; 1502 people had lost their lives.
Through the whole tragedy, the Californian was only ten miles away. Its officers were close
enough to see the Titanic, but they didn’t understand the situation. They never received
the Titanic’s call for help, and they didn’t come to the rescue until too late. Why was there
such a great loss of life? Why were there so few survivors? Why didn’t the Californian come
to help?
First of all, nobody had prepared for such a tragedy. Nobody had believed that the Titanic
could sink. The steamship company had thought that its ship would be completely safe in
all situations.
They’d followed an old rule for the number of lifeboats, so they’d supplied lifeboats for
only half the people. The ship had already received six ice warnings on its radio when it
struck the iceberg. Nevertheless, it had not changed its direction or its speed.
After this accident, ocean travel changed. Now there are always enough lifeboats for
everybody.
Past Simple or Past Perfect?

When the past perfect tense is used in the same sentence with the past
simple, the order of events is clear from the tenses themselves. The past
perfect action happened first, and words such as “before” and “after” are
not necessary. The word “when” can be used to join such sentences.

1
First 651 people got into the lifeboats.
Then the Titanic sank.

Only 651 people had gotten into lifeboats when the Titanic sank.

2
First the Titanic went down.
Then the Carpathia arrived.

The Titanic had already gone down when the Carpathia arrived.
3
Some passengers were in the icy water.
Then they were saved.

Some passengers had been in the icy water when they were saved.

4
First, about 1500 people lost their lives.
Then the Carpathia arrived.

When the Carpathia arrived, about 1500 people had already lost their
lives.

5
First ,the radio officer went to bed.
Then the accident happened.

The radio officer had gone to bed when the accident happened.
 Exercise 1

1- When I (try) to use my laptop, I realized the battery (run down).

2- I (turn) the computer off, but I forgot that I (save) my work.
3- I only remembered I (not pay) the bill when my internet connection (stop)
working.
4- When I (receive) the email, I couldn’t understand who (send) it.
5- When I (check) the instructions, I understood what I (do).
6- I knew I (receive) a virus when I (run) the anti-virus program.
7- As soon as I (download) the document, I knew I (make)a mistake.
8- I could see what (go) wrong as soon as I (look) inside the printer.
9- I knew I (press) the wrong key when nothing (happen)
10- When the screen (go) blank, I couldn’t understand how it (happen).
 Exercise 2

1 – Columbus left Spain in August 1492 with three ships, to try to find a way
to India by sailing west instead of east. When his ships (finally reached / had
finally reached) land, he thought he was there, but the ships (actually
arrived / had actually arrived) in America instead.

2- Captain Robert Scott wanted to reach the South Pole first. He and his
companions finally arrived there on the first of January 1912 after a
terrible journey across the ice, but (found / had found) a Norwegian flag.
Unfortunately for Scott, Roald Amundsen (got / had got) there 18 days
earlier.

3- Leonardo painted his famous painting The Last Supper between 1495 and
1498, but the painting started to deteriorate within 50 years. The most
common explanation for this used to be that Leonardo (used / had used) the
wrong kind of paint, but experts have always disagreed about this, and
many believe that the damp in the wall is the cause of the damage. Between
1978 and 1999, experts (restored / had restored) the paining, and the
public can now see it again.
 The Audition

yesterday, there was an audition for a play. Jack had spent the
previous two weeks preparing for the audition. He had read the
entire play and had memorized all his lines. He even had learned to
speak with a British accent because it was a Shakespearean play. He
had practiced his lines in front of his family, and even his dog. He
had hoped to impress the directors. He had bought a new shirt to
wear at the audition. Unfortunately, that day Jack woke up with a
terrible fever. He couldn’t even get out of bed because he felt so
sick. Jack was very upset about missing the audition because he had
invested so much time and effort into it.
The /ʒ/ Pronunciation