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Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Tense
I. Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students should have been able to
III. Procedure
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.
7:30am 8:00am
REMEMBER: Both of these activities happened in the past! However, one Second: I went to school.
happened before the other.
Here is a common way to write (or say) these two actions using the past
perfect. The past perfect is written in red.
-OR-
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).
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).
I had eaten
subject + had + past participle
Here's another timeline. Look at the timeline and make a sentence with
the past perfect and the word before.
Sam
Carol got
cooked Now
home
dinner
1:30pm 3:00pm
NOTE: The past participle of cook is cooked, which is the same as the
simple past (cooked).
If you use the words after or before in this type of situation, the simple
past is sometimes used with BOTH actions because the
words after and before already make the time relationship clear. In other
words, when the words after and before are used, the past perfect is
sometimes NOT used. The following example shows this:
There are other phrases that are commonly used with the past perfect:
Which happened first? The answer is we don't know. The writer of these
2 sentences didn't use the past perfect. As far as we know, these 2
events could have happened at the same time. Now, you know why using
the past perfect is so important.
Activity 2
The past
The verb of the first sentence before the actual words of the perfect
speaker is called a reporting verb. tense is
used to
Give a reporting verb show that
something
happened
before
another
action in
the past. It
can also be
used to
show that
something
happened
before a
specific
time in the
past.
• In the Indirect
speech, the words
of the speaker are
reported by another
person
• In the indirect
speech, the word of
the speaker is given
in a different form
but with the same
meaning.
IV. Evaluation
Take turns changing each question below to an indirect speech.
1. Mary asked, “Are you hungry, Ben?”
2. Joey asked, “What can I do for you, Mother?”
3. Teacher: “Have you all understood me?”
4. Bob (to Bella): “Where are you going for the holidays?”
5. I (to seller): “How much does the bicycle cost?”
6. Fe: “Do you swim well, Margie?”
7. Bert: “Shall we submit our project in two days?”
8. Teacher: “Is the Philippines an archipelago?”
9. I: “Can you call a taxi for me?”
10. Teacher: “Does a triangle have three angles?”
V. Agreement
Read
References:
Prepared by:
Chan, Jackeline S.
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.
7:30am 8:00am
REMEMBER: Both of these activities happened in the past! However, one happened before the other.
Here is a common way to write (or say) these two actions using the past perfect. The past perfect is
written in red.
-OR-
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).
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).
I had eaten
subject + had + past participle
Here's another timeline. Look at the timeline and make a sentence with the past perfect and the word
before.
Sam
Carol got
cooked Now
home
dinner
1:30pm 3:00pm
book recommendation
Action Grammar: Fast, Easy Answers on
Everyday Usage and Punctuation
NOTE: The past participle of cook is cooked, which is the same as the simple past (cooked).
If you use the words after or before in this type of situation, the simple past is sometimes used with BOTH
actions because the words after and before already make the time relationship clear. In other words,
when the words after and before are used, the past perfect is sometimes NOT used. The following
example shows this:
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:
book recommendation
Quiz time
Directions: Read and rewrite the following sentences using the past perfect. Combine the sentences using the word
or phrase given. The first one has been done for you.
Answer: Before Mary moved to Barcelona, Bill had already bought a house there.
3. First: Millions of Native Americans (American Indians) were in North America for thousands of years.
4. First: In 1753, Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier became the world’s first human flier by using a balloon.
Second: The Wright Brothers flew their first plane on December 17, 1903.
5. First: The world went from the Wright Brothers’ first flight in Kitty Hawk to the moon.
Second: 1970
9. First: Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reached the North Pole in 1909.
Second: Robert Scott and four others reached the South Pole in 1912.
Second: 1900
Before Mary moved to Barcelona, Bill had already bought a house there.
3. First: Millions of Native Americans (American Indians) were in North America for thousands of years.
When Christopher Columbus landed in North America in 1492, millions of Native Americans had
already been there for thousands of years.
4. First: In 1753, Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier became the world’s first human flier by using a balloon.
Second: The Wright Brothers flew their first plane on December 17, 1903.
By the time the Wright Brothers flew their first plane in 1903, Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier had
already become the world’s first human flier 150 years earlier by using a balloon.
5. First: The world went from the Wright Brothers’ first flight in Kitty Hawk to the moon.
Second: 1970
By 1970, the world had gone from the Wright Brothers’ first flight in Kitty Hawk to the moon in just 66
years.
By the end of the 20th century, the world’s population had hit the 6 billion mark.
After the National Free Bank had made bad investments, they went bankrupt.
When Professor Lee retired, he had already taught at Beijing University for 32 years.
9. First: Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reached the North Pole in 1909.
Second: Robert Scott and four others reached the South Pole in 1912.
By the time Robert Scott and four others reached the South Pole in 1912, Robert Peary and Matthew
Henson had already reached the North Pole 3 years earlier.
Second: 1900
Rules to Remember!
1
The words already and just go between had and the past participle.
Example: When Professor Lee retired, he had already taught at Beijing University for 32
years.
2
The negative of the past perfect is formed by putting not between had and the past
participle. The word still is often used with the negative form of the past perfect.
Example: By the end of the book, I still had not understood what the author’s opinion was.
3
Unless it is absolutely necessary, do not use specific years in both clauses (parts of the
sentence). Even though you don't write the year the event happened, you can still be
specific. Notice the way we rewrote #4 above. Both of the original sentences had years;
however, only one of the clauses in the final answer has a year written. Instead of
writing 1753, we wrote 150 years earlier.
First: In 1753, Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier became the world’s first human flier by using
a balloon.
Second: The Wright Brothers flew their first plane on December 17, 1903.
By the time the Wright Brothers flew their first plane in 1903, Jean-Francois Pilatre de
Rozier had already become the world’s first human flier 150 years earlier by using a balloon.