past perfect

THE PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

FORM: Subject + had + past participle

I, you , he, she, it, we, they	had (‘d)	finished
I, you, he, she , it, we, they	had not (hadn’t)	finished
Had	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	finished

MEANING:

We use the past perfect simple for:

An action which happened before another action in the past.

The action number (1) is my parents ate dinner at 9:00. The action number (2) is I arrived at 11:00. The first action is used in the past perfect and the second action is used in the simple past.

After my parents had eaten dinner, I arrived.

When my parents had eaten dinner, I arrived.

Before I arrived, my parents had already eaten dinner.

By the time I arrived, my parents had already eaten dinner.

past perfect1

Use the past perfect or the simple past:
As soon as the bell (ring)............................, the students left the classroom.
By the time the ambulance (arrive)........................................, the injured woman had already died.
She didn’t clean the house until she (cook)..............................................lunch.
When they (get)..............................................to the camping, they put up their tents.
After the students (do).........................................the tests, they (hand in)............................their papers to the teacher.

By the time we (get)............................. to the airport, the plane (already take off) .
She (not agree)................................him until he (accept)......................... her conditions.
When the police (find).............................. solid arguments, they arrested the suspect.
The film (start)......................................... by the time we arrived.
The orchestra didn’t start playing until all the guest (dine)........................................

THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

FORM: Subject + had + been + verb + ing

I, you, he, she, it, we, they		had (‘d)		been		playing
I, you, he, she, it, we, they		had not (hadn’t)		been		playing
Had	I, you, he, she, it, we, they		been		Playing?

MEANING:

The past perfect continuous is used for a cause and effect action.

When the mother came into the room, it was in a mess. The chairs were on the sofa. The toys were split on the table. The children had been playing.

Effect cause

The children had been playing is the cause of the mess of the house.

We use the past perfect continuous for the cause and the simple past tense for the effect in the past.

The boy looked sad and his eyes were red and swollen. He had been crying.

The past perfect continuous is used for an action which has been going on for a certain time when it was interrupted by another.

past perfect continuous