PAST PERFECT TENSE

H ave
yo u
ev e r . . .
FORM OF PAST PERFECT TENSE

had
+
past participle of verb
 When to use Past Perfect Tense?
We use past perfect tense for an
action or situation that happened
earlier and the simple past tense
for the action that took place later.
Example:
1. They had left when we arrived
2. I had been to Sydney before 2014.
3. She had never seen a tiger before she
came to Malaysia.
4. We had had that van for ten years
before it broke down.
5. By the time I went to the airport
yesterday the plane had already taken
off.
Exercise 1.
Fill in the blanks with correct tense of the verbs in
brackets.
A man was shot after he ___ (attack) two tourist
policemen. The man ____(is) involved in a fight
earlier. It was revealed that the man ____ (also,
drink) several cans of beer before he started to
attack the policemen. One policeman, ____ (let) off
a shot in the air to warn him. However, he was
stubborn and continued to attack both the
policemen. After the police ____(shoot) him in the
thigh, an ambulance arrived to take him to the
hospital. However, paramedics found that he ___
(fall) into coma.
Fill in the blanks with simple past tense or past
perfect tense.

1. When I ___ (get) home last night, I discovered

that Rose ___(prepare) a beautiful candlelight
dinner.
2. Since I began singing, I ___ (perform) in two
concerts.
3. By the time I got to the office, the meeting ___
(begin, already)
4. I ___ (speak, never) publicly before I entered
university.
5. My boss ___ (be) angry with me and ___ (demand)
and explanation.
6. When I ___ (turn) the radio on yesterday, I ___
(hear) a song that was very familiar.
7. I ___ (hear, not) from my cousin in years, and
meeting him brought back some great memories.
8. Last week, I ___ (run) around the lake for five
times.
9. When Rahim___ (enter) the room, I ___
(recognise, not) him because he ____ (grow) a
moustache.
10. The Chinese ___ (invent) many things like the
firecracker and toilet paper.
11. When I went to my sister’s house, I ___ (find)
the door locked.
12. Before he went to bed, he ___ (call) his mother.
13. By the time I arrived at the station, the bus ___
(leave)
14. The play ___ ( begin, already) when I reached
there.
15. No one ___ (want) to continue with the project.
1. Had attacked
2. Had been
3. Had also drunk
4. Had let
5. Had shot
6. Had fallen
 Answers
1. Got, had prepared 10. invented
2. Had performed 11. found
3. Had, never spoken 12.Had called
4. Had already begun 13. had left
5. Was, demanded 14. had already begun
6. Turned, heard 15. wanted
7. Had not heard
8. Ran
9. Entered, did not
recognise, had grown