Past Perfect

• Foreign language
• Tertiary Education

Grammar: Past Perfect

Intermediate 2
Unit 6: p.57

Look at the sentence. Which verb is in the past simple?

"Both of their adoptive parents had died a few years before they met."

1. had died
2. met

Look at the sentence. Which verb is in the past perfect?

"Both of their adoptive parents had died a few years before they met."

1. had died
2. me

Past perfect - had + verb 3

We use past perfect to talk about actions that happened before another action.

Which action do you think happened first?

"Both of their adoptive parents had died a few years before they met."

1. parents dying
2. them meeting

Look at the sentences. 

"Patrick felt ill because he'd eaten so much."

"I went to the mechanic because my car had broken down."

What words do we use to make a past-perfect sentence?

Subject  +

+

has / have

had

V2

V3

Look at the sentence. What action happened first?

"He had been to the bank and was on his way home."

1

2

1. 1
2. 2

Look at the sentence. What action happened first?

"She'd bought the car before she drove it."

1

2

1. 1
2. 2

Look at the sentence. What action happened first?

"Patrick felt ill because he had eaten so much."

1

2

1. 1
2. 2

Look at the sentence. What action happened first?

"I went to the hospital because I'd broken my arm."

1

2

1. 1
2. 2

Look at the sentence. What action happened first?

"He didn't have any money because he'd spent it."

1

2

1. 1
2. 2

Now let's practice .

Complete the sentences with either the past simple or past perfect .

By 7 o'clock, the place was completely empty everyone ____ (go) home.

It ____ (be) the first time ever I'd spent the night away from home.

I was disappointed with my low mark in the exam because I _____ (do) a lot of revision.

Before I _____ (meet) Mark at the party, I'd seen him in the street.

He _____ (threatened) to leave his job many times before he actually did it.

Most of the people who were on the plane _______ (not fly) before.

By the time we ________ (arrive), the film had started.

Well done. 

Now go back to google classroom and click 'hand-in' / 'mark as done'.