The Past Perfect

eg: They had already left

Form:
Affirmative: subject + had + the past participle of main verb.

eg:He had gone.
She had played.

Negative: subject + had not (hadn't) + the past participle of main verb

eg:He hadn't studied much
they hadn't come soon

Interrogative: Had + subject + the past participle of the main verb.


eg:had he sudied much?
had they come soon?


PAST PERFECT: we use the past perfect when we want to talk about things that happened before the past time we are mentioning.




Exercises:

Complete with the past simple or the past perfect of the verbs in brackets.

1- I only understood (understand) the film because I had read (read) the book.

2- Rachel had studied (study) English she moved (move) to Bristol two years ago.

3- I had tried (try) to fill in the form but I couldn't (can not) answer all the questions.

4- When they arrived (arrive), the film had already started (start).

5- I was (be) tired I had worked (work) very hard.

6- My sister ate (eat) all the cake that our mother had made (make).

7- Before he came (come) here he had spoken (speak) with his parents.

8- The waiter brought (bring) a drink that she hadn't ordered (not order).

9- Had you eaten (eat) anything before you went (go) to the concert?

10- Had he read (read) the contract before he signed (sign) it?


written by: Catarina Vasco