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PAST PERFECT TENSE

USE:

When two action occurred in the past.

Speak the first action in past perfect tense.

Speak the second action in simple past.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

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EXPLANATION

LET US LEARN

1. The train had left before we reached the station

2. The patient had died before the doctor arrived.

In the above sentences 1. the first action = THE TRAIN HAD LEFT

2. The first action = THE PATIENT HAD DIED

NOTE: The action happened first is in PAST PERFECT TENSE and

the second action is in SIMPLE PAST

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STRUCTURE

FORM:

SUBJECT + HAD + PAST PARTCIPLE (The third form of the verb)

EXAMPLE: I had known him.

NOTE: known is the third form of the verb ( pastparticiple)

Forms of verb : Know/ knew/ known.

Past perfect tenses are made of two clauses.

Adverbs such as when, while , before are used to join such clauses.

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NEGATIVE

NEGATIVE FORM: HAD + NOT

CONTRACTION = HADN’T

STRUCTURE: SUB JECT + HAD NOT + PASTPARTICIPLE

EXAMPLE: The train had not arrived at the station when we reached

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INTERROGATION

INTERROGATIVE IS FORMED BY PLACING HAD BEFORE THE SUBJECT

NOTE: Place a question mark at the end of interrogatives.

FORM: HAD + SUBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE

Example: Had the train arrived before you reached?

NOTE: The helping verb had remains the same with first ,second or third person singular or plural.

Examples:

1. I had known him2. He/ she had know n him3. We/ you had known him.

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1. They ____ (eat) before he arrived.

2. ____ (you finish) the report before he asked for it?

3. Jennifer _____ (buy) the house before the market crashed.

4. What _____ (she do) that upset him so much?

5. Our boss _____ (not make) the decision yet when management changed their mind.

6. The students _____ (write) the report, but the teacher made them do it again.

Conjugate the verb in bracket in the past perfect tense

EXERCISE

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Expressions used in past perfect tense

‘Before’, ‘already’ , ‘for ‘and ‘by the time’

By THE TIME: 1. By the time he asked me, I had completed everything he requested.

2. They had eaten by the time he walked into the room.

FOR: 1. Susan had worked as an assistant manager for five years before she was promoted.

2. They had lived in that house for ten years before he moved in with them.

ALREADY: 1. They had already completed the work when he arrived. 2. She hadn't been able to eat lunch before he telephoned.

EXPRESSIONS

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1. How (much / long) had you known Peter before he proposed?

2. They had (yet / already) eaten by the time he arrived.

3. Cathy hadn't finished the report (when / by) the time he asked for it.

4. How (much / long) wine had they drunk before they were asked to stop?

5. She had made the decision long (after / before) he asked her to marry him.

Choose the correct time or quantity expression used with the past perfect tense.

EXERCISE