Grammar reference and practice 8.1

 

8.1 ■ Past perfect

Affirmative and negative
I You He / She / It We They	had hadn't (=had not)		passed the test.
Questions and short answers
Had	I you he / she / it we they	passed the test?	Yes, I had. No, I hadn't.

We form the past perfect with had / hadn't + past participle. Remember that the past participle is often the same as the past simple form. However, many past participles have an irregular form.

Use

We use the past perfect to talk about something that happened before something else in the past.

Marie had left the office when I called her. (Marie left the office, and then I called her.)

We can also use the past perfect to explain a situation or give a reason.

I was nervous because I hadn't driven on the motorway before.

We can use the past perfect together with the past simple to describe two past actions, introduced by when or after. The verb in the past perfect always refers to the action that happened first.

They took away his medal after he had won it. (He won the medal, and then they took it away.)

When Colin arrived, everyone had gone home. (Everyone went home, and then Colin arrived.)

1Write the second sentence of each pair. Use the past perfect form of the verb given. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

• 1We arrived too late. The train / just / leave the station

• 2It was a waste of money. Jo and Ann / buy / the same present for Ben

• 3Sam was disappointed. He / not win / the competition

• 4I had to accept the truth. The campaign / not be / successful

• 5Chloe thanked me. I / congratulate / her on winning the race

• 6Everyone was very relieved to arrive. The journey / take / a long time

2Complete the questions with the past perfect form of the verbs in brackets. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

• 1The door was open.  someone  (be) there before me?

• 2 you  (read) the book before you saw the film?

• 3I saw you at about three o'clock.  the exam already  (finish) by then?

• 4Why did Ben come back to the house?  he  (forget) something?

• 5Joe and Chloe left the cinema early.  they  (see) the film before?

• 6Why was everyone outside the restaurant?  it  (close) early?

• 7Mary wasn't at home. Where  she  (go)?

3Choose the correct words. 

• 1We werehad been there for ten minutes when the police arrived.

• 2The reason you nearly fainted was because you didn't eathadn't eaten anything.

• 3Where did Ryan gohad Ryan gone on holiday last summer?

• 4I didn't go to the theatre that evening because I'd already seenI already saw the play.

• 5In 1950, there werehad been two ice rinks in this town.

• 6We didn't havehadn't had much money when we were young, but we enjoyed ourselves.

• 7Tina wasn'thadn't been very well last night.

• 8She joined the beginners' group even though she had playedplayed before.

4Write one sentence that links the sentence pairs with because. Use the past perfect form once in each new sentence. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

• 1We couldn't get in. Keira locked the door.

• 2Everyone congratulated Mark. He did so well.

• 3I thought Helen would win the prize. She wrote a brilliant essay.

• 4Steve didn't have any money. He bought a new pair of running shoes.

• 5The two athletes left the competition. They cheated.

• 6I was very happy. I made some progress on my project.

• 7The telephone wasn't working. You didn't pay the bill.