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Past Perfect

IDIOMAS WATSON

Created on May 10, 2021

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Transcript

Today's lesson is...

PAST PERFECT

PAST PERFECT

At 10:00 Kyle left At 11:30 Janice arrived

Janice went to a party last week. Kyle went to the party too, but they didn’t see each other. Kyle left the party at 10 o’clock and Janice arrived at 11:30. So: When Janice arrived at the party, Kyle wasn’t there. He had gone home.

Had gone is the past perfect (simple):

gonebeen seen finished

I / we / they /youshe / he / it

Had

(I'd / we'd / they'd /you'dshe'd / he'd / it'd)

PAST PERFECT

The past perfect simple is had + past participle (gone/seen/finished etc.) Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past:

  • Janice arrived at the party
This is the starting point of the story. Then if we want to talk about things that happened before this time, we use the past perfect (had…):
  • When Janice arrived at the party, Kyle had already gone home.

PAST PERFECT

Here are some more examples:

  • When they got home last night, they found that somebody had broken into the house.
  • I didn’t want to go to the cinema with them because I had already seen that movie.
  • The girl sitting next to me on the plane was very nervous. She had never flown before.

PAST PERFECT

Compare the present perfect (have seen) and the past perfect (had seen):

PAST PERFECT

PRESENT PERFECT

had seen

have seen

past now

past now

  • I didn’t know who was the man talking to Steve. I had never seen him before (= before that time)
  • They weren’t hungry. They’d just had breakfast.
  • Who is that man talking to Steve? I’ve never seen him before.
  • They say they aren’t hungry, they have just had breakfast.

PAST PERFECT

Compare the past simple (left, was, etc.) and the past perfect (had left, had been, etc.):

PAST PERFECT

PAST SIMPLE

  • A: Was Kim there when you arrived?
  • B: Yes, but she left soon afterwards.
  • Caleb wasn’t at home when I arrived. He was at his girlfriend’s house.
  • A: Was Kim there when you arrived?
  • B: No, she had already left.
  • Caleb had just got home when I arrived. He had been at her girlfriend’s house.