UNIT 1 LESSON D: Past Perfect & Past Perfect

Progressive
 PRE – LISTENING
Look at the photo. What do you think happened before the photo was taken?

 WHILE – LISTENING
A Listen and answer the following questions.
1. How did Ang Lee become a successful movie producer? By writing the script of the movie The
Wedding Banquet
2. What’s the importance of the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”? It had 11 Oscar Award
Nominations.
3. How did Lee make his breakthrough in the film producing industry?

B Listen again and complete the following sentences.

1. Before receiving four Oscar Academy Awards in 2000, Lee had made big successful …
2. Lee thought about returning to Taiwan because had no job.
3. Lee did not return to Taiwan because his student film won an award.
4. Before1991, Lee had been writing scripts and taking care of his son.

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 GRAMMAR NOTES
Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

Past Perfect Past Perfect Progressive

1. The past perfect describes actions that 1. The past perfect progressive describes an
happened before a specific time in the past. action that was in progress before a specific
time in the past. The progressive emphasizes
the continuing activity, not the end result.

Example:
By 1994, Ang Lee had become successful
It was 1994. He had already made several Example:
films. By 2000, Lee had been directing films for eight
years.

2. The past perfect progressive is used to draw

conclusions based on evidence.

Example:

She was out of breath. It was clear she had

been running.

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The past perfect and the past perfect progressive describe a relationship with a past time or another
past event.
Use the past perfect or the past perfect progressive for the earlier event. Use the simple past for the
later time or event

Example:
It was 2019. She had been an author for two years.
(She was an author before 2019.)

He had been working at home when his scripts won a competition.

(He was working at home. Then his scripts won a competition.)

Be careful! In sentences with when, notice the difference in meaning between:

a. The simple past and the past perfect.

When the movie ended, she left. (First the movie ended then she left.)

When the movie ended, she had left. (First she left, and then the movie ended.)

b. The past progressive and the past perfect progressive.

When the filming started it was raining. (It was still raining during the filming.)

When the filming started it had been raining. (It wasn’t raining during the filming, it had already stopped.)

Use already, yet, ever, never and just with the past perfect to emphasize the event which occurred
first.

Example:
Jason and I saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon last night. Jason had already seen it.

I had never seen it before.

When the time relationship between two past events is clear (as with before, after and as soon as), we
often use the simple past for both events.

Example:
After Lee directed Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, he worked on Hollywood movies.

We usually use the past perfect and the past perfect progressive with by (a certain time).

Example:
By 1985, Lee had gotten married.

By the time I got home, he had been waiting for an hour.

Remember! non-action verbs (stative) are not used in the progressive form.
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1. DISCOVER THE GRAMMAR
Read each numbered situation. Decide if the description that follows is (T) or false (F). If there is not
enough information to know, write a question mark (?).

1. When I found a seat the movie started.

F First the movie started. Then I found a seat.

2. When I found a seat, the movie had started.

T First the movie started. Then I found a seat.

3. Cristina invited the director on her show because he had won an Oscar.
F The guest won the Oscar after his appearance on the show.

4. Before the break, the guest had been explaining why he had made the film.
T The guest’s explanation was finished.

5. When I saw Mei Ling, her eyes were red. She had been crying.
T She wasn’t crying when I saw her.

2. TIME LINE
Look at some important events in Ang Lee’s career. Complete the sentences below. Use already or not
yet.

1. It was 1974, Lee hadn’t started college yet.

2. By 1985, he had already finished film school.
3. By 1990, he had already directed his first movie.
4. It was 1996. He hadn’t directed a movie in England yet.
5. By 1998, he had already started filming in China.
6. It was 1999. He hadn’t won an Oscar yet.
7. By the end of 2000, he had already finished Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
8. By 2002, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had already won four Oscars.

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3. LISTENING
A talk-show host is interviewing a successful producer. Listen to the producer talk about some events in
his life. Put the events in chronological order.

4 Richard and Molly moved to New York.

2 Richard started selling newspaper advertising.

6 Richard and Molly found an apartment in New York.

5 They talked about returning to Utica.

7 Lynn Costello called Richard and Molly.

3 Richard and Molly produced some small screenplays.

1 Molly got a job as a filmmaking teacher.

4. TROUBLED TEEN
Complete this description from a movie scene. Use the past perfect or past perfect progressive form of
the appropriate verbs in the box. Use the progressive form when possible.

arrest become bring have hurt

leave lose recommend see

The psychologist had seen a hundred like him

before. He sat on the couch and stared out the window. He

was only sixteen. His mother sat next to him. She had

brought him to see the psychologist. She had lost control

of her son. Ever since his father had left four years before, she had been having trouble with her son.

He had become more and more angry and depressed.

Recently he had hurt someone in a school fight. The police had arrested him and had

recommended psychological counseling. The mother was afraid that he was going to run away from

home.

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5. EDITING
Read this article about a martial arts expert. There are nine mistakes in the use of past perfect and past
perfect progressive. Find and correct them all.

In 1999, moviegoers gasped at the fighting sequences in The Matrix and were amazed
had
to learn that Keanu Reeves has actually performed those scenes himself. Hong Kong director
designed
Yuen Wo Ping had trained the actors and designing the scenes. At that time, Yuen was almost
had
unknown in the United States, but he already have a long career.
had trained
Yuen was born in China in 1945. His father had been a kung fu actor, and he trained

Yuen in martial arts. When he was 25, Yuen began to design fight scenes (by then, he had

already acted for 10 years). In 1978, he directed his first film. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow,
had been struggling
starring Jackie Chan, was a huge success. Before he worked with Yuen, Chan had struggling

to start his career. Yuen’s films made him famous. In the 1980s, kung fu movies became less

popular. Yuen turned to modern acting films, but with little success. By the end of the 90s, two
had happened disappeared
things have happened: Yuen had almost disappears from the movie business while Hollywood
had
directors have finally discovered high-flying Hong Kong fighting styles. When The Matrix
seen
exploded on the screen, Western audiences saw something they had never been seeing

before, and Yuen was back in business. In 2001, Yuen repeated his success in Crouching

Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the first kung fu movie ever to receive multiple Oscars.

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6. ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Think about what you did yesterday. Indicate whether it was or wasn't a busy day. Complete the
sentences. Then compare your day with a classmate's.

Yesterday was / wasn't a busy day for me.

1. By 9:00 a.m.,
_________________________________________________________________________
2. By the time I got to work/ school,
_________________________________________________________________________
3. By the time I had lunch,
_________________________________________________________________________
4. By the time I left work/ school,
_________________________________________________________________________
5. By the time I had dinner,
_________________________________________________________________________
6. By 9:00 p.m.,
_________________________________________________________________________
7. By the time I went to bed, I had done so much / little that I felt
_________________________________________________________________________

7. THERE’S ALWAYS A FIRST TIME

Think about things you had never done before you began living here (or before a certain year). Have a
class discussion. Possible topics: food, sports, clothing, entertainment, transportation.

Example: Before I moved here (or before this year), I had never eaten pizza or popcorn.

8. WRITING
Write a journal entry explaining an achievement, for example, getting your driver’s license, learning a new
skill, getting a job, graduating from high school or college, etc. In your journal entry, use the information
from these questions: What had you been doing before your achievement? How did you prepare for it?
Had you considered giving up before you succeeded. Use the past perfect and the past perfect
progressive.

Example: I got my driver’s license yesterday. Before I got behind the wheel, I’d been worrying
about the road test. But as soon as I started the car, I knew I could pass. I had ....

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