Past Perfect Tense Notes - PPT 03
Past Perfect Tense Notes - PPT 03
Past Perfect Tense Notes - PPT 03
The past perfect tense is often used in English when we are relating two events which happened in the past. It helps to show which event happened first. The past perfect tense expresses action in the past before another action in the past. This is the past in the past. Example: The train left at 9am. We arrived at 9.15am. When we arrived, the train had left.
PAST PERFECT FORM USE 1 Completed Action Before Something in the Past The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.
Examples:
I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Pulau Redang. I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet. USE 2 Duration Before Something in the Past (NonContinuous Verbs) With Non-Continuous Verbs and some noncontinuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Past Perfect to show that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past.
Examples: We had had that car for ten years before it broke down. By the time Alex finished his studies, he had been in London for over eight years.
Although the above use of Past Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT NonContinuous Verbs.
Unlike with the Present Perfect, it is possible to use specific time words or phrases with the Past Perfect. Although this is possible, it is usually not necessary.
Example:
She had visited her Japanese relatives once in 1993 before she moved in with them in 1996.
Here, we KNOW that the discussion took place FIRST -- even though the sentence describing it comes afterwards. We discussed the movie, and THEN I went to see it. This can be very useful when you are telling a story or relating a sequence of events. At any point in your story, you can jump BACK to a previous event, and your reader will not be confused, because the past perfect will make it clear that the event happened previously
Subject
I
HAVE
had
You
had
arrived. eaten.
He
had
arrived. eaten. arrived. eaten. arrived. eaten. arrived. eaten. arrived. eaten.
She
had
It We
had had
They
had
Using The Past Perfect Look at the following sentences. Which happened first? We all felt so sick. We took strange medicine.
We can only assume that the people in the above situation, first, felt sick and then took strange medicine. However, in English, there is grammar that can make the above situation very clear. It is called the past perfect.
You probably know what perfect means (100% pure, no problems). However, in English grammar, the word perfect means past. Whenever you see the word perfect referring to English grammar, just say past. Therefore, the past perfect means past past. This is exactly what the past perfect means: the past past. In other words, it is an action that happened (and finished) before another action in the past.
What happened first? What happened second? First: I ate breakfast. Second: I went to school. REMEMBER: Both of these activities happened in the past! However, one happened before the other.
I Ate Breakfast
I Went To School
Now
7.30A.M
8.00 A.M
Here is a common way to write (or say) these two actions using the past perfect. The past perfect is written in red. What do you notice about the past perfect? First, you should have noticed that the past perfect is the action (had eaten a big breakfast) that happened BEFORE the other action in the past (went to school). Before I went to school, I had eaten a big breakfast.
The second thing you probably noticed is that the past perfect is written with had and a past participle. The past participle and the simple past are usually the same if the simple past ends in -ed. If the simple past does NOT end in -ed, the past participle is probably different from the simple past. To see a list of these irregular simple past verbs and past participle verbs, click here (the past participles are in orange). Here is how the past perfect is formed: I subject + had had + eaten past participle
Here's another timeline. Look at the timeline and make a sentence with the past perfect and the word before.
EXAMPLE
What happened first? What happened second? First: Sam cooked dinner.
NOTE: The past participle of cook is cooked, which is the same as the simple past (cooked).
Before Carol got home, Sam cooked dinner. After Sam cooked dinner, Carol got home.
CONTINUE
Although the past perfect is sometimes not used in this type of situation, we recommend you use the past perfect, especially in formal writing. There are other phrases that are commonly used with the past perfect: by (time) by the time when