PAST PERFECT

FORMS:

Affirmative: HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE (had eaten, had done, had been,...)

Negative: HAD NOT + PAST PARTICIPLE

USE:

· We use this tense to talk about what happened before another event in the past.

· It is used in combination with the past simple. (Revise the Past Simple here: https://www.terceflmc.com/post/past-simple-continuous)

At the airport I realized that I had left my passport at home.

(First, I left my passport at home and then (later) I went to the airport where I noticed I didn’t have it.)

MIND THIS DIFFERENCE!!!

When I got home, my husband left.

(I was at home and then he left.)

When I got home, my husband had left.

(I arrived home after he had left. He had left the house before me.)

ADVERBS

· Already (= before the specified time)

· Still (= as previously)

· Just (= a very short time before the specified time)

· Ever (= at any time before the specified time)

· Never (= at no time before the specified time)

SIGNAL WORDS:

· after

· before

EXPRESSIONS:

· For: I was sorry when the company went bankrupt. I had worked there for twenty years.

· Since: I was sorry when the company went bankrupt. I had worked there since I was 18 years old.

EXAMPLES:

Our holiday wasn’t exactly what we’d expected.

I went to her house, but she’d already left.

Mark had never met anyone so nice before he met Marie.

After we threw the postcard to the post-box, we realized we had forgotten to write the address on it.

EXERCISES

PAST PERFECT (only)

PAST PERFECT & PAST SIMPLE (combo)

TIP!

You should revise irregular verb forms to be able to use correct past participle forms.

Practise them here: