Not mine. Took it from other sources.

1. Form (Sentences)
“ had ” + past participle
Examples:
The train had gone.
I had had lunch.
He had been a waiter.

2. Use
We use Past Perfect Tense to describe
happening before
ANOTHER ACTION
ONE ACTION

3. Use
Example 1:
The train had gone when I arrived at the station.
a. Both and are past actions.
b. happened before .

4. Use
Time diagram of Example 1:
The train had gone when I arrived at the station.
The train had gone
I arrived
Past Now Future
We don’t know when exactly the train went (Action
1) but it went at any point of time before the
moment I arrived (Action 2).

5. meaning
In Cantonese,
the meaning of the English Past Perfect Tense is:

6. Note
a. We use past perfect tense when necessary to indicate
the sequence of two past actions.
Example:
She had gone out when I got home.

7. Note
b. If the sequence is clear, the past perfect is not always
necessary.
Example:
She went out before I got home.

8. Note
c. However, it is often used for clarity.
Example:
She had gone out before I got home.

9. Note
d. We often use it when the second action is understood
but not stated.
Example:
I hadn’t realised (until you told me).

10. Note
e(i). Compare Sentence (a) and (b)
a. When I had had dinner, I watched TV.
b. I had dinner before I watched TV.
• In both sentences (a) and (b), which action happened
first?
• How is the sequence of actions indicated in each of
the two sentences?

11. Note
e(ii). In Sentences (a) & (b), the action of having dinner
happened first.
In (a), the sequence of action is indicated by the use of
the past perfect.
In (b), the sequence of action is indicated by the use of
before.

12. Form (Negative sentences & questions)
Negative: She hadn’t (had not) finished the homework
by the time Mum came back.
Sentence: She had finished the homework by the
time Mum came back.
Question: Had she finished the homework by the
time Mum came back?

13. Exercise A
Situation: Susan and Terry returned home from
holiday yesterday to find a broken
window and several valuable items
missing. Later, they tell the police
what happened.

14. Exercise A (Cont’d)
Put the verb in brackets into the correct form.
(Write down the answers on a piece of paper)

15. Exercise A (Cont’d)
P: When did you first realize someone (1) [break] into your
house?
T: Well, when we opened the front door we noticed that
someone (2) [walk] through the hall in muddy shoes and (3)
[break] the lock on the living-room door. and then, when we
went into the kitchen, we saw that the thief, or thieves, (4)
[come] in through the kitchen window; they (5) [smash] the
glass and (6) [open] the window from the inside.
P: Anything missing from the kitchen?
S: As far as we can tell, there’s nothing missing from the
kitchen. But it was an awful mess.

16. Exercise A (Cont’d)
P: And what about the living room?
T: We couldn’t believe our eyes when we first went in. they (7)
[throw] all the books on the floor; they (8) [search] through
every drawer in the desk; they (9) [tear] open all the
cushions; they (10) [pull] the carpet up; and they even (11)
[smash] all the pictures.
P: And what was missing?
S: Well, that’s strange. They (12) [take] some cash and smaller
pieces of silver, but they (13) [leave] a lot of valuable items.
They even (14) [leave] the cheque books. I don’t understand
it.
P: Something or someone probably (15) [disturb] them. It often
happens. Well, we’ll do our best, but there’s not much
chance of recovering your possessions, I’m afraid.

17. Exercise A (Key)
1. had broken
2. had walked
3. had broken
4. had come
5. had smashed
6. had opened
7. had thrown
8. had searched
9. had torn
10. had pulled
11. had even smashed
12. had taken
13. had left
14. had left
15. had probably disturbed

18. Exercise B
Situation: Phil had his first flying lesson
yesterday. He’s now telling Richard
what it was like.

19. Exercise B (Cont’d)
Put the verb in brackets into the correct form.
(Write down the answers on a piece of paper)

20. Exercise B (Cont’d)
R: You ever (16) [be] in a small plane before?
P: No, and I not (17) [expect] it to be so noisy. I (18) [fly] in
several different jets before, but I never even (19) [see] a
small plane before yesterday.
R: The instructor (20) [realise] you were a complete beginner?
P: Oh yes. He (21) [spend] 30 minutes asking me questions
before we went out of the plane. I told him I always (22)
[want] to learn how to fly, but I never (23) [have] the
opportunity and I not (24) [be] able to afford it before.

21. Exercise B (Cont’d)
R: Was the lesson as exciting as you (25) [expect]?
P: Oh yes. I (26) [imagine] all sorts of things before I actually
flew the plane. I (27) [think] I would get airsick; I (28)
[dream] I would crash; I (29) [be] worried I would be too
nervous to control the plane; I (30) [imagine] the plane
would catch fire. But after the lesson, I suddenly realized that
I not (31) [be] sick, that we not (32) [crash], that I (33)
[control] the plane well, that the plane not (34) [catch] fire
and that I actually (35) [fly] a plane for the first time in my
life. It was fantastic!

22. Exercise B (Key)
16. had you ever been
17. hadn’t expected
18. I’d flown
19. I’d never even seen
20. had the instructor realised
21. he’d spent
22. I’d always wanted
23. I’d never had
24. hadn’t been
25. you’d expected
26. I’d imagined
27. I’d thought
28. I’d dreamt
29. I’d been
30. I’d imagined
31. hadn’t been
32. hadn’t crashed
33. I’d controlled
34. hadn’t caught
35. I’d actually flown

23. http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar/Tenses11.cfm
http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/past2.html
Web-links

24. The End