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Past Perfect

Simple
Progressive / Continuous

Past Perfect Simple

I couldnt believe my eyes!!!


Yesterday when I arrived home:

Someone had broken into my house.

They had broken the door and the window.

They had stolen all my money.

They had broken my TV and my computer.

They had emptied my drawers.

They had even eaten the food in the fridge.

The following actions happened in


the past.. How can we join them?

I had dinner

She invited me to a restaurant

. 7:00 PM 1st action


. 9:00 PM 2nd action

The Past Perfect expresses the idea


that
a) something occurred before
another action in the past
or
b) that something happened before
a specific time in the past.

Examples. An action that occurred


before another action in the past.

I had never seen such a beautiful


beach
She only understood the movie
Had you studied English

before I went to Cancun.


because she had just read the book.
by the time you moved to New York?

Notice that the oldest action goes


in Past Perfect while the recent
action uses PAST SIMPLE.

Examples. An action that occurred


before a specific point of time

George had been married since 2005.

Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.

Had you ever visited the U.S. by 2006?

Notice that the placement of


adverbs is similar to the present
perfect: always, only, never, ever,
still, just, already, yet.

Complete the following sentences

She was late for work because she.. (miss the bus)

They talked about the film they.. (see) .

She read the letter her husband .. (send) .

The teacher was satisfied with the essay he..


(write) .

They ate the chicken their mother (cook)

Past Perfect Progressive

The past perfect progressive puts emphasis on


the course or duration of an action taking
place before another action in the past.

I had been waiting for 2 hours before the taxi arrived.

Examples. Emphasis on the duration


of actions happening before another.

We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when
Jane found her key.

It had been raining hard for several hours so the streets were
very wet.
Her friends had been thinking of calling the police since the
next day when she walked in.

The common expressions to give


emphasis to the time are: FOR X
time, ONLY, ALL DAY, SINCE

Also, use it if the duration of an activity


impacted or caused visible results on another
action in the past.
Jason was tired because he had been jogging.
Sam gained weight because he had been eating in excess.
Betty failed the final test because she had not been attending
class.

Short clip.

Past Perfect Simple or Past Perfect


Progressive (Continuous) Which to use?
Emphasis on Duration vs Result

She had already gone home when I arrived at the party.

He had been drinking all night when I found him.

By midnight, Paul had translated the article. (He finished his work.)

By midnight, Paul had been translating the article. (He did not finish it.
He was still translating at that moment.

By the time we arrived, he had cleaned the house. (he finished)

By the time we arrived, he had been cleaning the house for 2 hours. (He
did not finish)

REMEMBER Non-Continuous
Verbs / Mixed Verbs

The motorcycle had been belonging to George for years before Tina
bought it. Not Correct

The motorcycle had belonged to George for years before Tina


bought it. Correct

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