The Past Perfect
and
The past Perfect Progressive
Past Perfect
Use the past perfect when one
action in the past happened before
another action in the past. Put the
earlier action in the past perfect
and the later action in the simple
past.
Past Perfect
had + ed

It is used to talk about actions that were
completed at an unspecified time before
another past action ( at different times). I
had already done my homework when my
mother arrived.

With before, by the time, until and when
the verb is in the simple past.

With after the verb is the past perfect
Past Perfect
It is used only when a clear
relationship exists with an event in
simple past time. It indicates that
an action was completed before
another one in the past.
When I arrived at the party,
everyone had left
Because the past perfect means
“before”, it must relate a past event
to another past event or time.
Steve had just dropped a bag of
groceries when Marie came into the
kitchen.
He had not finished when we arrived.
EVER, NEVER (experiences before
a specific past time)
YET, STILL, ALREADY (completed
before a specific past time)
JUST (happened a short time
before a specific past time)
Was born
gave 1st
speech
got
1st
radio job
got 1st
hosted talk
TV job
show
was in her 1st
major movie
got own
show
built her
own studio
starred in film
Beloved
---/-----------------/-------------/------------/----------------/---------------/------------/------------/-----------/------1954
1957
1971
1973
1983
1985
1986
1988
1998
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
By 1958 Oprah ____________________ her first speech.
By 1971 she _____________________ her first TV job
By 1972 she _____________________ her first radio job.
By 1972 she _____________________ in a major movie.
By 1985 she _____________________ her own TV show.
By 1986 she _____________________ in a major movie
BY 1987 she _____________________ her own studio.
By 2000 she _____________________ in the film Beloved
Use because to connect sentences.
1. His car broke down.
He took the bus.
________________________________________
2. Charlotte was depressed.
She failed her English exam.
________________________________________
3. We didn’t eat all day.
We were really hungry.
________________________________________
4. We studied hard for three weeks.
We thought the test was easy.
__________________________________________
5. Neville couldn’t sleep.
He drank several cups of very strong coffee.
1. He took the bus because his car had
broken down.
2. Charlotte was depressed because she had
failed her English exam.
3. We were really hungry because we hadn’t
eaten all day.
4. We thought the test was easy because we
had studied hard for three weeks
5. Neville couldn’t sleep because he had
drunk several cups of strong coffee.
Past perfect progressive
had + been + ing

It is used to talk about actions that were in
progress up to another past action or time.
I had been doing my homework when she
arrived.

It expresses a sense that the action was
ongoing and is often used with for, since,
all day, all night
Past Perfect Progressive
It tells us about the length of the
action and the specific point when it
ended. It occurs with since or for to
specify the duration of the action.
I had been playing for two hours
when I fell and twisted my ankle.
When the race started, it was raining and
the streets were wet.
(It was still raining during the race)
When the race started, it had been raining
and the streets were wet.
(It wasn’t raining during the race. It had already stopped)
Explain the difference in meaning
A. When the phone rang, I was eating.
B. When the phone rang, I ate.
C. When the phone rang, I had eaten.
D. When the phone rang, I was going to eat.
E. When the phone rang, I had been eating.
THE END!