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Grammar Unit 18

Past Perfect Simple

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Form: had and the past participle of the verb:

  • She had finished her homework early.

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Negative: put not between had and the past participle of the verb.

  • He had not seen the movie by 3:00 p.m..

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Interrogative: put had before the subject and the past participle verb after the subject

  • Had she left before he got to her office?

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What is the Past Perfect Simple.

  • The past perfect simple is used to describe one action that happened before another action in the past.

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BUT we use the PPS for the first action and PT for the second action.

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By the time we arrived at school, our teacher had left.

  • For an action which took place before a specific point of time in the past.

He had learned to drive before 2001

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Time expressions used with the past perfect:

  • By then; by the time, by + time, after, before.

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By the time I got to class, they had already taken in the communication books.

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What action happened first and what happened second?

  1. My parents came home late but I had fallen asleep.

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  • My mom made me dinner after I had done my homework.

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  • By the time he decided to buy the car he had seen it ten times.