Past Perfect

1. Form of Past Perfect Simple

	Positive	Negative	Question
	I had spoken.	I had not spoken.	Had I spoken?

2. Use

A completed action before another action in the past.

3. Signal Words

·       already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day, for, since (with reference to the past, not the present)

·       before (antes de que), when, after (después de que), by the time (para cuando), until (hasta que), once (una vez que)

*Good to know

People (especially native speakers) do not use the Past Perfect in such sentences very often. For example, they will say:

·       After I washed my car, I went to fill up.

Rather than:

·       After I had washed my car, I went to fill up.

However, it is better to use the Past Perfect, especially in written English or when writing exams.

3. EXERCISES
Matching exercise
exercise 1
(Aff)

exercise 2

(Neg)

exercise 3

(Int)

exercise 4

Test

exercise 5

4. Form of the Past perfect continuous

	Positive	Negative	Question
	I had been speaking	I had not been speaking.	Had I been speaking?

5. Use

·       action taking place before a certain time in the past

(sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple)

·       puts emphasis on the course or duration of an action

signal words

·       for, since, the whole day, all day

6. EXERCISES

exercise 1

7. Past simple / Past perfect Simple

What happened first?

exercise 1

Fill in the gaps with the past simple or past perfect simple

exercise 1

exercise 2

exercise 3

exercise 4

Translation

Exercise 6
Exercise 7