The document discusses the past perfect tense in English. It provides the form of the past perfect, including affirmative, negative, and interrogative examples. It then discusses the various uses of the past perfect, including emphasizing earlier actions, using since and for with the past perfect, using the past perfect with when and after to indicate one action was completed before another started, and using the past perfect in reported speech.

2. The Past Perfect. Form
I had <past participle>
Had I <past participle>?
I hadn't <past participle>
Yes, I had
No, I hadn't.
Affirmative
Negative
Interrogative
Short Answers

3. The Past Perfect. Uses
The Past Perfect is sometimes equivalent to the Present Perfect, to refer to the past.
Now
Tom lost his case.
He bought new clothes.

4. 1. The first/older action ("Tom lost his case") becomes "Tom had lost his case"
2. The second/more recent action ("He bought new clothes") is a consequence of the
first. Consequently, it becomes "so he bought new clothes."
More cases:
He forgot his passport in his coat. Later, he searched for his passport but couldn't
find it.
He couldn't find his passport because he had forgotten it in his coat.
Some thieves broke into Mrs. Taylor's flat. They left at 4 pm. Mrs Taylor arrived a
few minutes later.
When Mrs Taylor arrived, the thieves had (already) left.

5. The Past Perfect. Since and for
It is possible to use 'since' and 'for' with the Past Perfect, with the meaning already known:
When I met Tim, he had been a soldier since 1997 / for 6 years. (I met Tim in
2003)
Ann had lived in a cottage for sixty years/ever since she was born,
and had no wish to move to a tower block.
The old oak tree, which had stood in the churchyard for 300 years/since
before the church was built, suddenly crashed to the ground.

6. The Past Perfect and When
The past perfect is used after when we wish to emphasize that the first action was completed
before the second one started:
When he had shut the window we opened the door of the cage. (First, he shut the
window)
When she had sung her song she sat down. (She sat down when she had finished)
When he had seen all the pictures he said he was ready to leave.

7. The Past Perfect and After
We can use After instead of when, expressing exactly the same idea.
After he had shut the window we opened the door of the cage. (First, he shut the
window)
After she had sung her song she sat down. (She sat down when she had finished)
After he had seen all the pictures he said he was ready to leave.
We can also use as soon as, but with a slight difference: we emphasize that the
second action happened immediately after the first.

8. The Past Perfect and Before
We can use Before with an unfinished action:
Before we had finished our meal he ordered us back to work. (We hadn't finished
to eat yet.)
Before we had walked ten miles he complained of sore feet. (We hadn't walked
ten miles yet).
The same idea can me expressed changing the first sentence into the negative and starting the
second with When:
We hadn't finished our meal when he ordered us back to work.
We hadn't walked ten miles when he complained of sore feet.

9. The Past Perfect in Reported Speech
We'll revise the Past Perfect when we study the Reported Speech. Examples:
He said, 'I've been in England for ten years' =
He said that he had been in England for ten years.
He said, 'When you've worked for a year you'll get a rise' =
He said that when I'd worked for a year I'd get a rise.
She said, 'I'll lend you the book as soon as I have read it myself' =
She said she'd lend me the book as soon as she'd read it herself.

11. 1. Form
Affirmative
I had been <gerund>
Negative
I hadn't been <gerund>
Interrogative
Had I been <gerund>?
Short Answers
Yes, I had.
No, I hadn't.

12. 2. Uses
We mainly use the Past Perfect Continuous to emphasize the fact that the past action was
not interrumpted:
It was now six and he was tired because he had worked since dawn =
It was now six and he was tired because he had been working since dawn.
Compare with the Spanish translation:
Eran las seis y estaba cansado porque había trabajado desde el amanecer.
Eran las seis y estaba cansado porque había estado / llevaba trabajando
desde el amanecer.
Important: this tense cannot be used in the Passive.