Explanation and English Practice: past perfect intro: EP2-18G

 

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Explanation

 

 

 

We can use verb tenses in English to describe four different time periods: the future, the present and 2 periods in the past. For the first of these we use the past simple (EP2-11G), for the second, we use the past perfect. It has two forms, simple and continuous. Here, we look at the simple form.

The past perfect tells us that something happened at a period further back in the past than that of the past simple.

Last week, we took a trip to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I had visited it once before, five years previously, but I had not owned a camera at that time and so had not taken any pictures.

Two periods of time are mentioned here:

1) A week before the time of writing

2) Five years before period 1)

The first and basic past is the one which uses the past simple – we took

If we want to write about a period before that, we use the past perfect: I had visited etc

 

The past perfect depends on the past simple, and cannot be used without it. For example, suppose I begin a story like this:

For three days I had watched my money running out.

We can do this ONLY if we now answer the question: before what?

Now, I had to act. I was in a strange city where I knew nobody. I needed to put a roof over my head, and to eat. That afternoon, I spoke with a man in a cafe and asked if I could stay with him for a few days. He said no, but gave me thirty dollars. I found a room in a cheap hostel. There, I started to ask around for work.

The writer tells a story in the past simple. He uses the past perfect only for something which happens at an earlier time than the time of the story.

Two years previously, when I had first come to America as an illegal immigrant, my life had not been easy.

Here, we see, as with ’For three days I had watched’ that the writer is talking about another time – before he found himself with no money. The past perfect does with words what we do with images (and words) when we have a ‘flashback’ in a film.

 

Exercise 1: Insert the past perfect into a text.

 

A less than normal day.

The pieces of text numbered 1-6 need to be inserted into the text, without changing anything else. Just write numbers in the story text to show where each insertion should go. Don’t make any other changes. The 6 pieces of text should be inserted in the same order as you have here – 1 first, 6 last.

1. as it had been every weekday for the last seven years
2. ,who had spent the night in his basket near the stove
3. ,which had just been delivered, as usual, by the paper boy on his bicycle
4. ,to see that her lipstick had not been spoiled by her breakfast,
5. that the special, customized alloy wheels, of which she was so proud, had been stolen
6. that she had never heard in her life – because she would have recognized it –

 

That Thursday, Marcia’s programme was the same. She woke at 7am and took a shower. She dressed, put on her lipstick and went down to the kitchen, where she put out the cat, Boris, Next she drank a black coffee and ate a slice of toast and butter.  As she ate her toast, she had a quick look through the morning paper. Then she collected her bag, took a last look in the hall mirror and went out. She locked the front door and approached her car.

            Only then did she realise.  It was no longer a day like every other.  The car was sitting, not on its tyres, but on the ground.

            She ran back into the house and phoned a taxi cab. She tried to phone her garage, but there was no answer and the answer phone was off. Then the cab arrived. She eventually made it to the station where she caught the train. After the train and another cab ride she finally reached her office. No sooner had she set down her bag than the phone rang.

            ’Ms Marcia Bates?’ said a nasty voice.

            ‘Yes, Who is this?’

            ‘About those beautiful wheels of yours that went missing, Marcia – so unfortunate. Would you like to know how to get them back?’

 

Exercise 2: past simple or past perfect?

Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or past perfect, as needed.

Example

0. He _______ (tell) me that he _____________ (nearly die) at the age of four.

He ____told___ (tell) me that he __had nearly died_____(nearly die) at the age of four.

Now try these:

1. Yesterday I __________ (stay) at the office until 7p.m. because I ___________ (not / do) enough work the previous day.

2. I ____________ (not finish) my bath when you _________ (phone), so I __________ ( not / can) answer.

3. She ____________ (leave) a message on her door, saying she __________ (go) to Birmingham.

4. It ____________ (rain) all night, so when I __________ (go) into the garden before breakfast, the roses _________ (smell) wonderful.

5. My parents ____________ (know) each other for five years before they ________ (get) married.

6. When my wife _________ (get) home, she _________ (say) with a laugh that she ____________ (spend) all her money.

7. I _________ (have) a three-year warranty for the car, so when it _________ (break) down, I __________ (take) it back to the dealer who I ___________ (buy) it from.

8. The insurance company ___________ (refuse) to pay us for the stolen jewellery. They _______- (say) that we ____________ (not / put) locks on the upstairs windows, so they _________ (not have to) pay us any compensation money.

9. I ________ (give) the gardeners £20 extra because I __________ (feel) that they __________ (do) an excellent job.

10. Paula __________ (not take) her umbrella in the morning, so of course, as soon as it _________ (start) to rain, she ________ (get) wet through.