THE PAST PERFECT TENSE The positive form is made by using had and the past participle.

The negative form is made by using not, and the question form is made by changing the order of the sentence.

FORMING A NEGATIVE Negative in the past perfect tense are formed by adding had not or hadnt before the past participle: Positive sentence I had eaten. You had lost. He had fallen. She had won. It had rained. We had read. They had written. FORMING A QUESTION In the past perfect tense: 1. Yes / No question are formed by putting the verb had at the beginning of the sentence. Put the past participle after the subject. 2. Form Wh- questions by putting a Wh- question word before a Yes / No question. Statement I had paid. You had lost. He had left. She had slept. It had eaten. We had lost. They had surrendered. Yes / No question Had I paid? Had you lost? Had he left? Had she slept? Had it eaten? Had we lost? Had they surrendered? Wh- question When had I paid? Why had you lost? When had he left? Where had she slept? What had it eaten? Why had we lost? Why had they surrendered? Negative sentence I had not eaten. You had not lost. He had not fallen. She had not won. It had not rained. We had not read. They had not written. Shortened sentence I hadnt eaten. You hadnt lost. He hadnt fallen. She hadnt won. It hadnt rained. We hadnt read. They hadnt written.

WHEN TO USE THE PAST PERFECT TENSE We use the past perfect tense when we talk about an earlier completed action which began in the past before another action took place. Use words like after, before, when, as soon as and by the time with the past perfect tense. Action which took place first After Rozi had bought a magazine She had gone out He had washed the dishes Before I had finished eating, As soon as he had locked the door, When he had made the fire, Action which took place later she went home. by the time her friend arrived. before he went to bed. the lights went out. he put the keys under the mat. he cooked some food.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

EXERCISE: 1. Change the following sentence to the Negative and Question Forms. Positive 1. He had left. 2. She had sprained her ankle. 3. We had done our chores. 4. You had lied to me. 5. They had postponed the match. Negative Question

2. Rearrange the following words or phrase to make correct sentences. Put a comma where necessary. i. had closed / The bank / by the time / I / there / reached ________________________________________________________________ washed / She / had watered / after / the plants / her car / she. ________________________________________________________________ Alis wife /he / had / eaten / home / already / when / came / from work. ________________________________________________________________ had taken / as soon as / fell / asleep / She / the sleeping pills / she ________________________________________________________________

ii.

iii.

iv.

3. Fill in the blank with the Simple Past Tense or the Past Perfect Tense of the verb in brackets. i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. Yesterday I __________ (buy) some durians. I __________ (eat) the cake which I myself __________ (bake). Rashidah __________ (win) a watch in a lucky draw three days ago. Josephine __________ (be) in trouble. She __________ (forgot) to bring her history homework. He __________ (drink) the tea. Then he __________ (eat) the toast. After the baby __________ (drink) the milk, it __________ (fall) sound asleep. Lucy __________ (watch) TV after she __________ (do) her homework. The accident victim __________ (be) already dead when they __________ (reach) the hospital. The boy __________ (shout) in pain even before the doctor __________ (inject) him with the vaccine. The authorities __________ (decided) to move the villagers to higher ground when their houses __________ (become) flooded.

ANSWERS: 1. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 2. i. ii. iii. iv. v. The bank had closed by the time I reached there. She washed her car after she had watered the plants. Alis wife had already eaten when he came home from work. Jasmin phoned me yesterday but I had already gone out. She fell asleep as soon as she had taken the sleeping pills. Negative He had not left. She had not sprained her ankle. We had not done our chores. You had not lied to me. They had not postponed the match. Question Had he left? Had she sprained her ankle? Had we / you done our / your chores? Had you lied to me? Had they postponed the match?

3. i. bought ii. ate / had baked iii. won iv. was / had forgotten v. drank / ate vi. had drunk / fell vii. watched / had done viii. was / reached ix. shouted / had injected x. decided / became