The Past Perfect
Form: had + past participle
We use the past perfect to:
Clarify order of two past actions (to show that one happened before the other)
· In reported speech.
· In conditional type three
· To express a past wish
Examples:
I had phoned Jamal before I went out. Action 1: I phoned Jamal. Action 2: I went out |
Amin told me that he had been away for the whole week. |
If I had worked hard, I would have got the prize. |
I wish I had gone with you! |
Exercise: Put the verbs between brackets in the correct form.
1- Nadia (never read)..............................such an interesting story before she moved to university in Spain.
2- (Nadia, ever, study)..................................Spanish before she moved there?
3- She (be).............................there once as a tourist.
4- She only understood the text in Spanish because she (read)............................ it twice.
Answers: 1(had never read) 2 (had Nadia ever studies) 3 (has) 4 (had read)
The Past Perfect Continuous
Form: had + been+ verb+ ing
We use the past perfect continuous to:
1) refer to an action in the past which continued until another action took place.
2) emphasise that something occurred for a long time before another event in the past.
Example: Before he retired, he had been doing a lot of business in many countries.
