Past perfect

PAST PERFECT

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prerequisites

PAST SIMPLE

PAST PARTICIPLE

PARADIGMS OF IRREGULAR VERBS

OBJECTIVES

PAST PERFECT

TYPES OF SENTENCES

USES

PAST PERFECT VS PAST SIMPLE

1. HOW DO WE FORM THE PAST PERFECT?

We use the auxiliary HAD + the past participle of the main verb

I HAD NOT COMPLETED THE TASK so i got fired

HAD MIKE WASHED THE DISHES WHEN HIS MOTHER CAME HOME?

SHE arrived LATE TO SCHOOL because she had missed the bus

2. TYPES OF SENTENCES

Affirmative sentences:subject + had + past participle She had studied English before she moved to New York Negative sentences: subject + had not (hadn’t) + past participle She hadn't studied English before she moved to New York Interrogative sentences: had + subject + past participle Had she studied English before she moved to New York? Short answers: Yes, subject + had / No, subject + hadn’t Yes, she had / No, she hadn't

2. TYPES OF SENTENCES

2. TYPES OF SENTENCES

lET'S PRACTICE

3. when do we use the past PERFECT?

Which actions happened before?

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3. when do we use the past perfect?

• To talk about a past event happened before another past event
• To describe an action or situation finished before a specific time in the past

The meeting had already started when they arrived. I had already read the book before we saw the film.

He had won four gold medals by the age of twenty I hadn’t finished my homework before class

The past perfect can be translated in Italian with the trapassato prossimo

4. past PERFECT vs past SIMPLE

We often use the past perfect with the past simple in the same sentence. The action that happened first is expressed with the past perfect, the action that happened later is in the past simple. The meeting had already started when they arrived 1) The meeting had started --> 2) they arrived I had already read the book before we saw the film 1) I had read the book --> 2) we saw the film

4. past perfect vs past simple

Using the past perfect can change the meaning of a sentence. What is the difference between these two sentences?

PAST PERFECT

PAST SIMPLE

4. past simple vs past PERFECT

Remember these signal words in order to distinguish between past simple and past perfect

PAST SIMPLE

PAST PERFECT

1. BEFORE
2. WHEN
3. BY THE TIME

1. AFTER
2. AS SOON AS
3. UNTIL
4. JUST
5. ALREADY
6. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME...

• Before we sold our house, we had had it for ten years.
• I had finished dinner by the time you arrived.

• I had just sent you a text when you arrived.
• It was the first time she had ever been to Italy.

lET'S PRACTICE

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well done!