Past perfect



Presentation






Past Perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It is used to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened first.










Mom cooking

12:30
My mother cooked curry.

Boy getting home

3:00 pm
I got home.





To express the action that happened first, we are going to use the past perfect. We use simple past for the second action. In this tense, the past participle and simple past forms of the verbs that are going to be needed.

According to the previous explanation, read the following sentence:


My mother had cooked chicken curry before I got home.


As you can see, the first action is written with the auxiliary “had” (which is the past of have) and the main verb in Past Participle (cook – cooked). The second action is written with the main verb in Simple Past (get – got).


Look at these examples:




Reading

Activity 1

Nightmare on Christmas Eve

Have you had misfortunes during a holiday or celebration? Let’s read what happened to Albert and his family last December on Christmas Eve.


Christmas dinner

Pixabay. (s.f.). Christmas dinner. Taken from: https://goo.gl/cPncDU



Check the timetable. Then read the text and drag the phrases in past perfect to complete it.

TIME

ACTION

12:00 pm

Put the turkey in the oven

2:00 pm

Everyone helps to make the meal

6:00 pm

Make the apple salad

6:30 pm

Complete the cooking

6:45 pm

Finish to set the table

6:50 pm

Turn on the stove

11:30 pm

Wait for more than four hours

11:25 pm

Give up hope







Listening

Activity 2

The Sleepy Thief

When you do something, do it in the right way. If you don’t do it, you can end up like this man.

Thief arrested by police


Click on the Start button to answer the questions. Once you finish all the parts of the exam, click on Submit to complete.


Pixabay. (s.f.). Detener. Taken from: https://goo.gl/i6rOi0








Writing

Activity 3

The bad tenant
Girl in apartment Pixabay. (s.f.). Annoying girl. Taken from: https://goo.gl/S31IZr


Imagine you had a discussion with your roommate, and he or she decided to move to another apartment, but you weren’t told about it. One morning you go out, and when you return, you couldn’t believe your eyes. Your roommate had gone!


Write a paragraph describing what your roommate had done to your apartment while you were out.


First, check these rubrics to know what your writing needs for a self-assessment. In this link, you can read an example.


Speaking

Activity 4.

And the rest?

Sometimes we can’t make it because in the process to reach the objectives something happens and it spoils our plans or our intentions.





Pixabay. (s.f.). Pensitive. Taken from: https://goo.gl/yHkpbH

Read the first part of each sentence. Then, complete the second part of the sentence using your own ideas in Past Perfect. Read in this link the checklist for a self-assessment. Click here to listen to the examples. Then compare them to your own work.



Remember to record your sentences and send them to your assessor.

  • I didn’t see the movie because…
  • got angry because…
  • I bought a new computer because…
  • I couldn’t do my homework because…
  • My mobile didn’t work because…
  • I opened the door because…
  • I argued with my best friend because…
  • I couldn’t go to the dentist because…
  • I couldn’t eat that piece of meat because…
  • I didn’t recognise you because…





Self-assessment

Completing the sentences

The Past Perfect describes sentences that happened before other actions in the past. After reviewing this topic, do the following activity.




Practice the negative and the interrogative forms

To build our speech, affirmative sentences are not the only ones that are required. Also, the negative and interrogative sentences are vital, that is why it is essential to practice them.


References

Complementary

  • Thornbury, S. (2004). Natural Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Azar, B. and Hagen, S. (2009). Understanding and Using English Grammar. New York: Pearson Education.