martes, 12 de enero de 2016

Past Perfect

Past Perfect
 by Cecilia C. López Ramírez

The past perfect tense is formed by the past of the auxiliary verb have plus the past participle of the main verb:

Subject + Had + Verb in Past Participle

Timeline:

When I got home, my mother had finished preparing dinner.

 
 Earlier past                                                                                                         Past

I left school at 6 p.m.              My mother started preparing dinner at 6 p.m.           I got home at 7:15 p.m.
                                               and finished at 7 p.m.

 
                   

Affirmative and Negative:
I
He/She/It
You/We/They
‘d
hadn’t
arrived

Questions:
Had
I
he/she/It
you/we/they
left already?

Short answers:
Yes, I had. / No, I hadn’t.

      
Uses:

1.    To express an action in the past which happened before another action in the past:
When I arrived at the theatre, the play had already started.
When George died, he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.

2.    To show that something happened before a specific time in the past:
had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.
Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.

3.    After past verbs of saying and thinking, to talk about things that had happened before the saying  or thinking took place:
I told her that I had finished my homework.
I thought I had sent the invitation a week before.

4.    To express something that happened in the past but is important at the time of reporting:
I couldn’t get into the house. I had lost my keys.
Teresa wasn’t at home. She had gone shopping.

5.    To talk about past events that did not happen, like conditions, hypothesis and wishes:
I would have helped him if he had asked.
I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month.

6.    In reported speech. For example, if the spoken words are in Simple Past, the Past Perfect will be used in reporting those words:
Spoken words: I lost my keys.
Reported speech: Jenny said that she had lost her keys.

7.    To say how long something had continued up to a past moment:
She told me that her father had been ill since Christmas.
When they got married, they had known each other for 15 years.

8.    With state verbs (have, be and know), to show that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past:
We had had that car for ten years before it broke down.
By the time Alex finished his studies, he had been in London for over eight years.

9.    In the main clause of adverbial clauses (especially with the expression by the time):
By the time Sam got there, Ann had already left.
By the time the police arrived, the two men had disappeared.

10.  In more formal writing such as fiction or narrative. For example, the writer uses the Simple Past to say that an event happened (Bill felt great), and the uses the Past Perfect to explain what had happened before that event:
Bill felt great that evening. Earlier in the day, Annie had caught one fish, and he had caught three. They had had a delicious picnic near the lake and then had gone swimming again. It had been a nearly perfect vacation day.


When NO to use Past Perfect:

1.    To say that something happened some time ago, or to give a past reason for a present situation:
I left some photos to be developed. Are they ready yet?   
(NOT I had left some photos…)
Simon Mark, who worked for my father in the 1980s, is now living in Greece     
(NOT Simon Mark, who had worked for my father…)

2.    If you put the words after or before, it is better to use Simple Past (instead of Past Perfect) with both actions because these words make the time relationship clear. For example:
Before Carol got home, Sam cooked the dinner.
After Sam cooked the dinner, Carol got home.
 



Complete the spaces with the correct form of the verb. Follow the example:

1.    Fabian ___had worked___ (work) as a waiter for years before he decided to open his own restaurant.
2.    The soccer player ______________ (negotiate) a new contract a month before he was hospitalized for a car accident.
3.    He __________ just ____________ (arrive) at the office when the thunderstorm began.
4.    The cake didn’t rise because my mother _________________ (forget) to add the baking powder to the recipe.
5.    I went to the box office at lunchtime, but they _______________ (already/sell) all the tickets for the match.

Match the columns to make sentences. Follow the example:



A.    She was very suntanned because
B.    They missed the bus because
C.   He had a stomachache because
D.   She put the cat outside because
E.    It was great to bump into Amelia because


____________ they had overslept.
____________ he had eaten too much.
_____A______ she had spent her holiday at the beach.
____________ I hadn’t seen her for ages.
____________ it had scratched her daughter.




 
How to practice the Past Perfect tense by your own:

1.    You can generate your own timeline of major historical events and make examples using any event you can relate to yourself. It’s also a good way to use the adverb already and to practice the Passive Form:
When I was born, the Internet had already been invented.
When I finished high school, the Berlin wall had already been demolished.

2.    Continue using your timeline to comparing past events, but this time make negative statements. It’s also a good time to practice the Passive Form and to use the adverb yet:
When my grandmother was born, penicillin hadn’t been discovered yet.
When I was born, Facebook hadn’t been invented yet.

3.    Use the same timelines to ask your classmates or friends questions:
Had you started learning English when you finished high school?
Had you learned to drive a car when you got your first job?
            

Bibliography:

  1. AZAR, Betty S. and HAGEN, Stacy A. “Understanding and Using English Grammar”. Fourth edition. U.S.A., Pearson Longman, 2009.   p. 50
  2. SOARS, John and Liz. “New Headway Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book”. Fourth edition. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2012. Grammar Reference (Unit 9).     p. 144
  3. SWAN, Michael. “Practical English Usage”. Third edition. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2005.    p. 397

Cibergraphy:
1.     Past Perfect (Verb tense tutorial)
October 2015.
2.     Past Perfect (English Grammar)
November 2015.
3.     How to Teach the Past Perfect Tense
(http://busyteacher.org/3680-past-perfect-tense.html)


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