Sentence Synthesis & Transformation

PAST PERFECT

TENSE

The Perfect Tense Family

The PERFECT form of the verb phrase contains 'has'/'have'/'had' + past participle

For example,has eaten, have worked (present perfect tense)

had slept (past perfect tense)

The PERFECT tense refers to something which happened before or leading up to another time

or event : it is retrospective (looking backward)

past now1 2

The Present Perfect relates to a happening in the past that continues to the present (and will perhaps continue beyondthe present into the future).

E.g. "I've been here since yesterday." ("I'm still here now.")

Present Perfect Tense

future

present perfect

past past1 2

We use the Past Perfect to show one happening in the past (marked 1 above)[expressed by the Past Perfect]happened before another happening in the past (marked 2 above) [expressed by Past Simple].

E.g. He had been elected before he became President (in 1990).

Past Perfect Tense

now future

past perfect simple past

Form of Past Perfect Tense [1]

The active form of this tense is made with 'had' + a past participle

e.g. When we arrived at Ali's home, we found that he had gone to visit his relatives.

Other Forms of Past Perfect Tense [2]

Past Perfect ContinuousI'd been singing I had been dancing

Past Perfect Passive She'd been caught He had been arrested

Perfect Tense in To-Infinitive & -ING Clauses

TO HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLEE.g. I'm sorry to have caused so much trouble.

OR

HAVING + PAST PARTICIPLEE.g. Having read all your books, I have been

longing to meet you.

When To Use the Past Perfect Tense (1)

Past Perfect Tense is used to show which of the two past actions happened first

It shows the Sequence of Actions

Example 1James fell ill after he had eaten some

unwashed fruit.

What happened first ?He had eaten unwashed fruit.

What happened next?He fell ill.

Example 2After he had taken some medicine, he

began to feel better.

What happened first ? He had taken some medicine.

What happened next ?He began to feel better.

When to Use the Past Perfect Tense (2)

Used in reported (indirect) speech and questions, when a verb in the original (direct) speech was in the Simple Past or Present Perfect Tense

Reported SpeechExample 1

The girl said, "I have lost my wallet."(DIRECT SPEECH)

The girl told us (that) she had lost her wallet.

(REPORTED SPEECH)

Reported SpeechExample 2

The eye-witness said, "The driver of the yellow car did not stop at the traffic lights."

(DIRECT SPEECH)

The eye-witness said that the driver of the yellow car had not stopped at the traffic

lights.(REPORTED SPEECH)

Reported SpeechExample 3

"Where did you find the books?" the teacher asked Mei Mei.

(DIRECT SPEECH IN QUESTION FORM)

The teacher asked Mei Mei where she had found the books.(REPORTED SPEECH)

COMMON ERRORS The Past Perfect can be confused with the Present Perfect or Past Simple.

Remember, the Past Perfect relates two different times in the past, whereas the Present Prefect relates to a time in the past to the present.

A guard helped me out of the pool, I have almost drowned in the water. (Present Perfect) ... I had almost drowned...(Past Perfect)

Last year, we had visited New York. (Past Perfect) ... we visited New York.(Past Simple)