Supplementary Material

PAST PERFECT TENSE

(Supplementary Material for Gamma Intermediate Module)

The Past Perfect tense is used to refer to something that happened before an action that occurred in the past:

The Past Perfect Tense is formed using the “had” auxiliary, plus a verb in the participle form (eaten, gone, drunk,
stolen, etc.).

E.g.: “The Russians had already sent a satellite to space when the United States launched its first rocket”.
In this example, we want to emphasize is that the Russians did something before the Americans did
it.

The events happened in the following order:

1957 1958 now

The Russians send a satellite to space The US sends its first rocket to space

E.g.: “We couldn’t surprise her because someone had already told her she was the new manager”.
Here, the people express disappointment because they wanted to surprise the person, but, she already
knew the news.

The events happened in the following order:

3:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. now

Someone told her she was the new manager. We tried to surprise her with the news.

I. Underline the correct alternative in italics:

E.g: “World War II had ended / ended when the Russians had built / built a wall to separate Berlin.”

1) By the time I got back to the bathroom, the tub had overflown / overflowed.
2) She arrived at the station only to discover that the train already left / had already left.
3) It was a miracle the mountain climbers were still alive: when the rescue team had found / found
them, they had been / were in the mountain for 5 weeks.
4) Napoleon had reigned / reigned France for more than 20 years when he was / had been exiled to
the island of Elba.
5) the employee was fired / had been fired only after the manager found out he had stolen / stole those
documents.
6) He had planned / planned a great trip to Europe, so he felt very disappointed when his boss hadn't
given / didn’t give him the month of vacation.
7) By the time he died, Churchill had led / led England to victory in World War II, had been / was a
Member of the House of Commons and of the house of Lords, among other achievements
8) He left the country with mixed emotions: he had had / had many great and also many awful
moments there.
9) At the funeral she realized she had never told him / never told him how much she loved him.

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II. Change the verb in italics into the Past Perfect Tense:

E.g.: “The dog always recognized its master. It was not normal that it barked at him.”
“The dog had always recognized its master. It was not normal that it barked at him.”

1) The children were told to stay in the house, but they went out to the yard anyways.

2) She remembered she met him at a Party at Jim’s.

3) The Roman citizens were furious when they discovered some Senators killed Julius Ceasar.

4) Massu defeated many of the best players in the world to win the Gold Medal.

5) Another day passed and they still knew nothing of his whereabouts.

6) Carl told Melissa of the danger, so she couldn’t complain.

7) He taught the class so many times before that he couldn’t understand why this time it was a failure.

8) She found out everything, I couldn’t lie any longer.

9) The Shire was always a peaceful place: not even the war in Middle Earth could change that.

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KEY CHECK
I.
1. By the time I got back to the bathroom, the tub had overflown / overflowed.

2. She arrived to the station only to discover that the train already left / had already left.

3. It was a miracle the mountain climbers were still alive: when the rescue team had found / found
them, they had been/were in the mountain for 5 weeks.

4. Napoleon had reigned / reigned France for more than 20 years when he was / had been exiled to
the island of Elba.

5. the employee was fired / had been fired only after the manager found out he had stolen / stole those
documents.

6. He had planned / planned a great trip to Europe, so he felt very dissapointed when his boss hadn't
given / didn’t give him the month of vacation.

7. By the time he died, Churchill had led / led England to victory in World War II, and had been / was
a Member of the House of Commons and of the house of Lords, among other achievements

8. He left the country with mixed emotions: he had had / had many great and also many awful
moments there.

9. At the funeral, she realized she had never told him / never told him how much she loved him.

II.

1. The children were told to stay in the house, but they went out to the yard anyways.
The children had been told to stay in the house, but they went out to the yard anyways.

2. She remembered she met him at a Party at Jim’s.

She remembered she had met him at a Party at Jim’s.

3. The Roman citizens were furious when they discovered some Senators killed Julius Ceasar.
The Roman citizens were furious when they discovered some Senators had killed Julius Ceasar.

4. Massu defeated many of the best players in the world to win the Gold Medal.
Massu had defeated many of the best players in the world to win the Gold Medal.

5. Another day passed and they still knew nothing of his whereabouts.
Another day had passed and they still knew nothing of his whereabouts.

6. Carl told Melissa of the danger, so she couldn’t complain.

Carl had told Melissa of the danger, so she couldn’t complain.

7. He taught the class so many times before that he couldn’t understand why this time it was a failure.
He had taught the class so many times that he couldn’t understand why this time it was a failure.

8. She found out everything, I couldn’t lie any longer.

She had found out everything, I couldn’t lie any longer.

9. The Shire was always a peaceful place: not even the war in Middle Earth could change that.
The Shire had always been a peaceful place: not even the war in Middle Earth could change that.