ntroduce the Past Perfect with a timeline

The best way to grasp the past perfect is to understand that were
dealing with two events that took place in the past, but one before
the other, not simultaneously. Draw a timeline on the board. Mark
lines for different hours and tell students this is what happened
yesterday. Write down a series of events that took place yesterday
and mark them in their corresponding place in the timeline:
I left the school at 6pm.
My husband started preparing dinner at 6 and finished at 7.
I got home at 7:15
Say, When I got home, my husband had finished preparing dinner.
Show your students how the past perfect tense is formed, and make
sure they understand one past event took place before another past
event.

2
Practice the Past Perfect tense
To show your students more examples, go to OurTimeLines.com,
where you can generate your own timeline of major historical events.
Give examples using any historical events your students can relate
to. Nows a good time to introduce the use ofalready.
- When you were born, the Internet had already been invented.
- When I finished high school, the Berlin wall had already been
demolished.
- When I started teaching, George Bush Sr. had already finished his
term as President of the US.
Ask students to provide more examples, comparing historical or past
events.

Introduce the Past Perfect tense Negative forms

Continue using the timeline or comparing past events, but this time
make negative statements. Nows a good time to introduce the use
of yet.
- When my grandmother was born, penicillin hadnt been discovered
yet.
- When I was born, the Internet hadnt been invented yet.
- When I finished high school, I hadn't started teaching yet.
Ask students to provide more examples.

4
Introduce the Past Perfect tense Interrogative forms
Use the same timelines to ask your students questions:
- Had the Internet been created when you were born?
- Had you started learning English when you finished high school?
- When did you get your first job? Had you learned to drive a car
yet?
Encourage students to ask each other questions. If necessary, give
them prompts:
T: The Internet was invented in 1973.
S: Had it been invented when you were born?

5
Introduce the Past Perfect tense Short answers
Have students ask you questions and introduce short answers:
S: Had cell phones been invented when you were born?
T: No, they hadnt.
S: Had penicillin been discovered when you were born?
T: Yes, it had.

Students continue taking turns asking each other questions and

replying with short answers.

6
Contrast Past Simple and Past Perfect
Make sure that students understand which clause has the verb in
simple past and which has the verb in past perfect. Usually the
clause that starts with when or by the time has a verb in simple past.
This is the perfect worksheet to practice this contrast. Heres
another Past Perfect activity for further practice.