15. PAST PERFECT (I had done) ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

15. PAST PERFECT (I had done)

A	Study this example situation:  Sarah went to a party last week. Paul went to the party too, but they didn't see each other. Paul left t he party at 10.30 and Sarah arrived at 11 o'clock. So: When Sarah arrived at the party, Paul wasn't there. ·         He had gone home.  Had gone is the past perfect (simple): I/ we/ they/ you had (=I’d etc.) gone seen finished he/ she/ it (=he’d etc) The past perfect simple is had+ past participle (gone/ seen/ finished etc). Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past: ·         Sarah 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 Sarah arrived at the party, Paul had already gone home. Some more examples: ·         When we got home last night, we found that somebody had broken into the flat. ·         Karen didn't want to go to the cinema with us because she'd already seen the movie. ·         At first I thought I'd done the right thing, but I soon realised that I'd made a big mistake. ·         The man sitting next to me on the plane was very nervous. He hadn't flown before. or ... He had never flown before.
B	Compare the present perfect (have seen etc.) and the past perfect (had seen etc.): Present perfect Past perfect ·         Who is that woman? I've seen her before, but I can't remember where. ·         We aren't hungry. We've just had lunch. ·         The house is dirty. They haven't cleaned it for weeks.   ·         I wasn't sure who she was. I'd seen her before, but I couldn't remember where. ·         We weren't hungry. We'd just had lunch. ·         The house was dirty. They hadn't cleaned it for weeks.
C	Compare the past simple (Left, was etc.) and the past perfect (had left, had been etc.): ·         A: Was Tom there when you arrived? B: Yes, but he left soon afterwards. ·         Kate wasn't at home when I phoned. ·         She was at her mother/s house. ·         A: Was Tom there when you arrived? B: No, he had already left. ·         Kate had just got home when I phoned. She had been at her mother's house.

EXERCISES

15.1	Read the situations and write sentences from the words in brackets. 1 You went to Sue's house, but she wasn't there. (she /go /out) ____ She had gone out ____________________ 2 You went back to your home town after many years. It wasn't the same as before. (it /change /a lot) __________________________________________ 3 I invited Rachel to the party, but she couldn't come. (she /arrange /to do something else) __________________________________________ 4 You went to the cinema last night. You got to the cinema late. (the film /already /start) __________________________________________ 5 It was nice to see Daniel again after such a long time. (I /not I see /him for five years) __________________________________________ 6 I offered Sue something to eat, but she wasn't hungry. (she /just /have /breakfast) __________________________________________
15.2	For each situation, write a sentence ending with never ... before. Use the verb in brackets. 1 The man sitting next to you on the plane was very nervous. It was his first flight. (fly) ____ He’d never flown before________________ 2 Somebody sang a song. I didn't know it. (hear) I __________________________________________ before 3 Sam played tennis yesterday. He wasn't very good at it because it was his first game. (play) He __________________________________________ 4 Last year we went to Mexico. It was our first time there. (be there) We __________________________________________
15.3	Use the sentences on the left to complete the paragraphs on the right. These sentences are in the order in which they happened - so (a) happened before (b), (b) before (c) etc. But your paragraph begins with the underlined sentence, so sometimes you need the past perfect. 1 (a) Somebody broke into the office during the night. (b) We arrived at work in the morning. (c) We called the police. We arrived at work in the morning and found that somebody had broken into the office during the night. So __________________________________________ the police. 2 (a) Laura went out this morning. (b) I rang her doorbell. (c) There was no answer. I went to Laura’s house this morning and rang her doorbell, but ____________ no answer. _________________ out. 3 (a) Jim came back from holiday a few days ago. (b) I met him the same day. (c) He looked very well. I met Jim a few days ago ______ just ___________ holiday. ___________ very well. 4 (a) Kevin sent Sally lots of emails. (b) She never replied to them. (c) Yesterday he got a phone call from her. (d) He was very surprised. Yesterday Kevin ____________ from Sally. __________ very surprised. _______ lots of emails, but _______________.
15.4	Put the verb into the correct form, past perfect (I had done) or past simple (I did). 1 'Was Paul at the party when you arrived?' 'No, he ___ had gone_____(go) home.' 2 I felt very tired when I got home, so I ____________ (go) straight to bed. 3 The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody _______________ (go) to bed. 4 Sorry I'm late. The car ____________  (break) down on my way here. 5 We were driving along the road when we ________________ (see) a car which ________ (break) down, so we ___________(stop) to help.

ANSWER KEY

15.1 2 It had changed a lot. 3 She'd arranged to do something else. /She had arranged ... 4 The film had already started. 5 I hadn't seen him for five years. 6 She'd just had breakfast. /She had just had ... 15.2 2 I'd never heard it before. /I had never heard ... 3 He'd never played (tennis) before. /He had never played .. . 4 We'd never been there before. /We had never been .. . 15.3 1 we called 2 there was ... She'd gone /She had gone 3 He'd just come back from /He had just come back from ... He looked 4 got a phone call He was He'd sent her /He had sent her ... she'd never replied to them I she had never replied to them 15.4 2 went 3 had gone 4 broke 5 saw ... had broken ... stopped