Lesson 20 - Past Perfect Tense
In this lesson you'll learn how to use the past perfect tense. Plenty of examples are given to show you how to use the past perfect tense. You'll also learn the past participles of more common English verbs.
A conversation is also included between two friends, who talk about the first day on a job.
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Conversations
English
Mark has just finished the first day at his new job. His friend Eric works a few blocks away, and they've met up at local café.
Eric: How was the first day at your new job?
Mark: Well, I had just arrived at the office, when I realized I had left my wallet at home. I went back home to get it, and by the time I was back at the office, I was 20 minutes late.
Eric: Oh no! Did it cause a problem?
Mark: No, but wasn't a good way to start my first day.
Eric: What happened next?
Mark: I introduced myself to the receptionist, then after a few minutes Susan arrived. She is one of the people who sat in on the interview. She took me around and introduced me to the people I'll be working with.
Eric: Had you met any of the people that you'll be working with before?
Mark: Yes. I had met Mike already at a friend's wedding, but I don't know him very well.
Eric: Did they put you to work right away?
Mark: No. Susan brought me to my desk and gave me a lot of documents to read.
Eric: I remember when I first started my job last year. I was very nervous, but it felt like starting on a new adventure as well.
Vocabulary and Phrases
| I had just arrived at the office | |
| I had left my wallet | |
| Did it cause a problem? | |
| receptionist | |
| interview | |
| a friend's wedding | |
| Did they put you to work right away? | |
| desk | |
| documents | |
| adventure |
Grammar
More Past Participles
Like the present perfect tense, the past perfect tense also uses past participles. The following table shows the past tense and past participle of some more common verbs.
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was | been | |
| begin | began | begun | |
| believe | believed | believed | |
| break | broke | broken | |
| choose | chose | chosen | |
| close | closed | closed | |
| come | came | come | |
| do | did | done | |
| drink | drank | drunk | |
| eat | ate | eaten | |
| enjoy | enjoyed | enjoyed | |
| fall | fell | fallen | |
| feel | felt | felt | |
| find | found | found | |
| fly | flew | flown | |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | |
| give | gave | given | |
| go | went | gone | |
| happen | happened | happened | |
| have | had | had | |
| know | knew | known | |
| learn | learned | learned | |
| let | let | let | |
| like | liked | liked | |
| live | lived | lived | |
| need | needed | needed | |
| open | opened | opened | |
| run | ran | run | |
| say | said | said | |
| see | saw | seen | |
| sit | sat | sat | |
| sleep | slept | slept | |
| speak | spoke | spoken | |
| stand | stood | stood | |
| take | took | taken | |
| talk | talked | talked | |
| teach | taught | taught | |
| tell | told | told | |
| think | thought | thought | |
| touch | touched | touched | |
| turn | turned | turned | |
| walk | walked | walked | |
| want | wanted | wanted | |
| wish | wished | wished | |
| write | wrote | written |
Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is used to indicate that an event happened before another event, or before a specific date in the past.
The past perfect tense is formed using the past participle of a verb along with the simple past tense of the verb have. The following table shows the past perfect tense of the verb walk.
| Past Perfect Tense |
|---|
| I had walked |
| you had walked |
| he had walked |
| she had walked |
| it had walked |
| we had walked |
| they had walked |
Examples
| I had already left when you arrived. | |
| I planned to wash the dishes, but somebody had already washed them. | |
| She had already learned French before she started to learn Spanish. | |
| We had come home before it started to rain. | |
| They had studied for the exam before writing it. | |
| Had he locked the door when he left work? | |
| He had forgotten to lock the door when he left for work. | |
| He had not locked the door before he left for work. | |
| Had the car needed a new engine when you bought it? | |
| Had you read the books before you gave them to me? | |
| She had just gotten home when they arrived. | |
| I wanted to watch the movie, but they had already seen it. | |
| It hadn't happened until last week. |
Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the past perfect tense. For each flashcard change the verb in the past tense to the past perfect tense.
Quiz
In the quiz for this lesson, you'll practice using the past perfect tense. Make sure you know the past participles included in this lesson. You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.
