Past Perfect

• Look at the following example:

– I called Henry on the phone but he had
gone to the movies.
• In the example we have two actions
happening in the past:
– I called and
– He had gone
• But one of them occurred before the
other one and there is no time
connection between them.

had gone called NOW

• We use the Past Perfect to describe
actions that happened before other
actions in the past.
– Linda had already taken the exam when
Laura told her to study together.
– Gino hadn’t done his homework when
the teacher asked him for it.
– Jesse had just turned off the TV. when
you called him.
• To form the Past Perfect we combine
HAD with a verb in Past Participle
form.
• More examples:
– Jimmy slipped with a banana skin that
someone had thrown on the floor.
– Vivian told Carol what she had heard
her parents say.
– Liam had just finished reading his book
when he lost it.
– Lilly had already left the party when
Carlos arrived.
– Paul was tired because he had gone
jogging in the morning.
• Change one verb in each sentence to
the Past Perfect simple form.
a. I called a friend who called me before.
had called me before.
b. George solved all the exercises his math
teacher left
hadhim.
left him.
c. Pauline celebrated her birthday as she
did itdone
had one year
it onebefore.
year before.
d. Martha already took taken
had already a shower when when
a shower her
father
her arrived
father home.
arrived home.
e. Monica decorated her apartment the way
she saw it in aitmagazine.
had seen in a magazine before.
f. Peter wrote an e-mail to his friend who
left to
had England
left the previous
to England week.
the previous week.
f. Mario asked questions about what
the teacher explained
had explainedin class.
in class.
g. Joe had a lot of fun with the game
William lent
had him.
lent him.
h. Bianca felt satisfied with the project
she finished the night
had finished before.
the night before.
i. Javier ate all the cookies he bought
had
that same
bought thatday.
same day.
j. The campers made a fire with wood
they collected in theinmorning.
had collected the morning.
k. Joanie felt exhausted for all the
work she did.
had done.