Past Perfect

Form
Basic form
! Subject + HAD + Verb (past
participle form)
! Ex: You had studied English
before you moved to New York.
Short Form
! Id, you'd, he'd, she'd, it'd, we'd,
they'd
! Ex: Youd studied English
before you moved to New York.
Form
Question
! Had you come?
! Where had she gone?
Negative
Had + not (-n't) + Past Participle
! He had not taken the exam last
year.
! He hadnt taken the exam last
year.
Uses
! Completed action before another action in the past
! As a part of the third conditional
! Reported speech
Completed action before another action in
the past
! When we arrived, the film had
started.
! As soon as she had done her
homework, she went to bed.
As a part of the
third conditional
! If I had known you were ill, I
would have visited you.
! I wish I had taken more food.
I'm hungry now.
! I would have been in big trouble
if you hadn't helped me.
Used in unreal or hypothetical
situations
Reported speech
! Common when we report
people's words or thoughts
! He asked if I had read Harry
Potter.
! John said that he had never
eaten sushi before.
! She wondered why he had
been so unkind to her.
Interactive Activity
Solve a Crime
Interactive Activity
Stage 1
! A crime scene is presented to the
students, by offering a list of
keywords and phrases.
! Ex:
John Flitz 9 p.m. country
house dinner six guests
midnight shots heard Flitzs
body discover
Stage 2
! The students are informed that
the guests will be interrogated by
two inspectors.
! In pairs, the students compose
testimonies for the guests with a
worksheet.
! Each student of the pair will
complete one version of the
worksheet. (A or B)
Interactive Activity
Stage 3
! Students are told that four of the
six guests had plotted the
murder, and that their
testimonies contradict each other.
! Students with worksheet A
compare to the ones with B,
paying close attention to the
meaning changes caused by
alternating the use of Past
Perfect and Simple Past.
Stage 4
! After they have decided their
suspects, one student from each
pair reads the names out loud.
! They are asked to justify their
decision, highlighting the
meaning differences in the
testimonies.
Practice
! http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-perfect-exercise-1.html
! http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastperfect/menu.php
! http://www.e-grammar.org/past-perfect-simple-continuous/
! http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/past-perfect-simple/
exercises