Video about past perfect
The Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is most often used for the following:
- For actions that happened before a past event
- In reported speech
- In if (conditional) sentences
- In reported speech
- In if (conditional) sentences
For actions that happened before a past event
When we want to talk about an action that happened before a past event, we often use the past perfect. Look at these examples:
- When I got home yesterday, my father had already cooked dinner.
- I didn't want to go to the movies with my friends because I had seenthe film already.
- My friend offered me an apple in class yesterday, but I wasn't hungry because I had just eaten lunch.
- I arrived very late at the party. All my friends had already gonehome.
- As soon as she had done her homework, she went to bed.
- I was very tired as I hadn't slept well for several days.
- Had you seen the film before?
Notice how often words like already, just, never etc. are used with the past perfect.
In reported speech
The past perfect is common when we report people's words or thoughts .., as in the following examples:
- John said that he had never eaten sushi before.
- She told me that she had finished, but I knew she had not.
- She wondered why he had been so unkind to her.
- He told me he hadn't done his homework, but he was hoping to finish it on the bus.
- I thought I had sent her a birthday card, but I was wrong.
In if (conditional) sentences
The past perfect tense is used in unreal or hypothetical stituations, as in the following sentences:
No comments:
Post a Comment