The Past Perfect The Past Perfect Progressive

Use the past perfect when one action in the past happened before another action in the past. Put the earlier action in the past perfect and the later action in the simple past. The Past Perfect

It is used only when a clear relationship exists with an event in simple past time. It indicates that an action was completed before another one in the past. When I arrived at the party, everyone had left. Past Perfect

Past Perfect: had + past participle It is used to talk about actions that were completed at an unspecified time before another past action ( at different times). I had already done my homework when my mother arrived. With before, by the time, until and when the verb is in the simple past. With after the verb is the past perfect

Because the past perfect means “before”, it must relate a past event to another past event or time. Steve had just dropped a bag of groceries when Marie came into the kitchen. He had not finished when we arrived.

EVER, NEVER (experiences before a specific past time) YET, STILL, ALREADY (completed before a specific past time) JUST (happened a short time before a specific past time)

gave 1st got 1st got 1st hosted talk in 1st got own built own starred in born speech radio job TV job show movie show studio Beloved ---/ / / / / / / / / By 1958 Oprah ____________________ her first speech. 2.By 1971 she _____________________ her first TV job 3.By 1972 she _____________________ her first radio job. 4.By 1972 she _____________________ in a major movie. 5.By 1985 she _____________________ her own TV show. 6.By 1986 she _____________________ in a major movie 7.BY 1987 she _____________________ her own studio. 8.By 2000 she _____________________ in the film Beloved. Use past perfect and ever, never, yet, still, already or just in the blanks.

Use because to connect sentences. 1. His car broke down. He took the bus. 2. Charlotte was depressed. She failed her English exam. 3. We didn’t eat all day. We were really hungry. 4. We studied hard for three weeks. We thought the test was easy. 5. Neville couldn’t sleep. He drank several cups of very strong coffee.

1. He took the bus because his car had broken down. 2. Charlotte was depressed because she had failed her English exam. 3. We were really hungry because we hadn’t eaten all day. 4. We thought the test was easy because we had studied hard for three weeks. 5. Neville couldn’t sleep because he had drunk several cups of strong coffee.

It tells us about the length of the action and the specific point when it ended. It occurs with since or for to specify the duration of the action. I had been playing for two hours when I fell and twisted my ankle. Past Perfect Progressive

Past perfect progressive: had been + verb-ing It is used to talk about actions that were in progress up to another past action or time. I had been doing my homework when she arrived. It expresses a sense that the action was ongoing and is often used with for, since, all day, all night

When the race started, it was raining and the streets were wet. (It was still raining during the race) When the race started, it had been raining and the streets were wet. (It wasn’t raining during the race. It had already stopped)

Avoid common mistakes 1. Use the past perfect or past perfect progressive to give background information for a past tense event. I have never seen my sister in real life, so I was nervous the first time we met. I have dreamed about meeting her, and I finally did. 2. Use the past perfect or past perfect progressive to give a reason for a past event. Her eyes were red and puffy because she cried. 3. Use the past perfect (not the past perfect progressive) for a completed earlier event. They had been arranging a time to meet, but both of them forgot about it. 4. Use the past perfect (not present perfect) to describe a completed event that happened before a past event. I have visited her in Maine twice before she came to visit me. had had been dreaming had had been crying arranged

Explain the difference in meaning A. When the phone rang, I was eating. B. When the phone rang, I ate. C. When the phone rang, I had eaten. D. When the phone rang, I was going to eat. E. When the phone rang, I had been eating.

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