1. PAST PERFECT
Level 6 – on line
Laboratorio de Idiomas
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras – U.B.A.
2. WHEN DO WE USE THE PAST
PERFECT?
• Use the Past Perfect when you are already talking about the past and want to talk
about an earlier past action.
• E.g. When I woke up the garden was all white. It had snowed during the night. = It
snowed before I woke up.
• E.g. They got to the cinema late and the film had already started. = The film started
before they arrived.
3. HOW DO WE FORM THE PAST
PERFECT?
• We make the Past Perfect with:
had / hadn’t (auxiliary) + past participle of the verb.
• The form of the past perfect is the same for all persons.
E.g. He / She / They had left when I arrived.
• Had can be contracted to ‘d. Had not is contracted to hadn’t.
4. EXAMPLES
• Affirmative form:
- I suddenly realised that I had left my mobile in the taxi.
• Negative form:
- We got home just in time – the match hadn’t started.
- When she got to class, she realised that she hadn’t brought her books.
• Interrogative form:
- A I went to Paris last weekend. I really loved it.
B Had you been there before?
A No, I hadn’t.
