Lesson 20 - Past Perfect Tense

Meeting Room

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.

広告

会話

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.

語彙と例文

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

文法

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 日本語
be was been 有る, 居る
begin began begun 始める
believe believed believed 信じる
break broke broken ブレーク
choose chose chosen 選択します
close closed closed 閉める
come came come 来る
do did done 行う
drink drank drunk 飲む
eat ate eaten 食べる
enjoy enjoyed enjoyed 楽しむ
fall fell fallen 落ちる
feel felt felt 感じる
find found found 見附る
fly flew flown 飛ぶ,
forget forgot forgotten 忘れる
give gave given 与える
go went gone 行く
happen happened happened 起こる
have had had 持つ
know knew known 知る
learn learned learned 学ぶ
let let let 許可する
like liked liked 好む
live lived lived 生きる
need needed needed 要る
open opened opened 開く
run ran run 走る
say said said いう
see saw seen 見る
sit sat sat 座る
sleep slept slept 眠る
speak spoke spoken 話す
stand stood stood とどまる, 留まる
take took taken テイク, 要する, 取る
talk talked talked 語る
teach taught taught 教える
tell told told 伝える, 言う
think thought thought 考えます, 考える
touch touched touched 触れる
turn turned turned 回す
walk walked walked 歩く
want wanted wanted 欲する
wish wished wished 願う
write wrote written 書く

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

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.

クイズ

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.

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