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Understanding Past Perfect Tenses

The past perfect tense describes actions that were completed before a certain point in the past. It is formed using the past tense of the auxiliary verb "have" (had) and the past participle of the main verb. The past perfect continuous tense describes actions that started in the past and continued up until another point in the past. It is formed using "had been" plus the present participle (-ing) form of the main verb. Both tenses can be used in affirmative, interrogative, and negative forms and have specific uses to denote actions that happened before or were ongoing up until another point in the past.

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Ivan Milicevic
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91 views12 pages

Understanding Past Perfect Tenses

The past perfect tense describes actions that were completed before a certain point in the past. It is formed using the past tense of the auxiliary verb "have" (had) and the past participle of the main verb. The past perfect continuous tense describes actions that started in the past and continued up until another point in the past. It is formed using "had been" plus the present participle (-ing) form of the main verb. Both tenses can be used in affirmative, interrogative, and negative forms and have specific uses to denote actions that happened before or were ongoing up until another point in the past.

Uploaded by

Ivan Milicevic
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Past perfect tenses

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PAST PERFECT TENSE


FORM: auxiliary verb had + past participle had played; had taught; had won

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We form the interrogative and the negative with the auxiliary verb had

Affirmative Negative
I had worked . worked.

Interrogative
Had I worked? I had not
You had not

You had worked. Had you worked? worked.


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He/she/it had worked. Had he/she/it worked? He/she/it had not worked.

We had worked. worked.

Had we worked? We had not

Uses:
1.Actions and states before a time in the past (a past action which is completed before a time in the past):
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By the time firefighters arrived, the house had burned down. When we got there, the police had questioned the neighbors.

2. Unfulfilled intentions:
Kubrick had tried to make a movie about Napoleon. They had tried to climb the mountain but Robertson broke his leg.
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Practice: turn these sentences into interrogative and negative form:


I had driven him to school. He had bought the car. We had intended to go there. Click to edit Master subtitle style They had supported us.

Past perfect continuous

We form the past perfect continuous with had been + present participle Click to edit Master subtitle style (-ing)

Affirmative, interrogative and negative


I had been working. Had I been working? I had not been working. You had been working. Had you been working? style Click to edit Master subtitle You had not been working. He/she/it had been working. Had he/she/it been working? He/she/it had not been working.

We had been working. Had we been working? We had not been working. You had been working. Had you been working? You had not been working.
They had been working. Had they been working? They had not been working.

Usage:
1. An ongoing action or state which began in the past and continued up to or stopped just before a time in the past:
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He had been working for an hour before Bob arrived. The fans had been waiting in line for hours before the doors opened.

Past perfect continuous practice:


We (not work) because they (make) noises. Bob (write) a book. You (clean) the garage. I(open) the store. He (teach) us to use the computer.
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Put the sentences into interrogative and negative form


He had been going home. We had been buying the house. I had been painting the door.
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