English Work

Past Perfect
 I-Conjuguaison

Use the helping verb “had” before a verb in past perfect simple
tense to describe all subjects (I, we, you, they, he, she, it).

Form:[subject] [had] [past participle]

Examples: It had rained a lot before she came to town.

I had studied very hard for the exams.
 Use the helping verb “been” after “had” when using the verb
“to be” in the past perfect simple tense.

Form : [subject] [had] [been] [object clause]

Examples: She had been late to class several times before she got

detention.
His family had been nice in the past.
We have :

Affirmative form : subject + 'had' + past participle of verb

Example: I had jumped (i'd)

Interrogative form : 'had' + subject + past participle of verb

Example: had I jumped?

Négative form : subject + had not (hadn't) + past participle of verb

Example: I had not jumped (hadn't)
Remark
To combine the modal auxiliaires
at this time, we must necessarily
go through their equivalent.

Can (Have be able to ) : Had

been able to
Must ( to have to ) : Had had to
May ( have be allowed to ) :Had
been allowed to
 II-Uses

The past perfect (simple) tense is used to describe an action that has
been completed before another past action.
It is also used to describe an action that happened in the distant past
(when it is understood that other actions have happened since that
action).
 Consequences on a moment on the past.

Ex : Rodney couldn’t tell me the time yesterday. He had lost his

watch.
(Rodney ne pouvait pas me donner l’heure. Il avait perdu sa montre.)

 Event that extends to a moment of the past.

Ex : When I met Rodney, he had been a racing driver for ten

years/since 1980.
(Quand j’ai rencontré Rodney, il était pilote depuis 10 ans/depuis
1080) .
EXERCISES
Exercise1 Replace the dots

1.He bought a new car two months after he had sold -ou- 'd sold the old one. (sell)

2. He was delighted because he had won -ou- 'd won the jackpot. (win)

3. My sister was tired because she had been -ou- 'd been shopping the whole afternoon. (be)

4. We had not travelled -ou- hadn't travelled very far when theaccident happened. (not travel)

5. When I arrived at the party, my friend had already gone -ou- 'd already gone home. (already go)

6. I had forgotten -ou- 'd forgotten my pen so I had to borrow one. (forget)

7. If I [Pas de réponse] had known -ou- 'd known I wouldn't have come. (know)

8. I did not watch the film because I had seen -ou- 'd seen it before. (see)

9. When we came out of the restaurant, we saw that our car had disappeared -ou- 'd disappeared .
(disappear)

10. Before my little sister did her homework she had studied - ou- 'd studied her lesson very carefully.
(study)
Exercise2 Traduction

1. They had bought a car. = Ils avaient acheté une voiture.

2. When I arrived, she had just left. = Quand je suis arrivé, elle
venait de partir.

3. She'd eaten. (had) = Elle avait mangé.

The End