Past Perfect (basic)

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

By the time he arrived in southern Argentina, he had already quit his job and had sold most of his books. He had never felt so free. He had expected isolation to feel frightening, but it did not.

Grammar Reference · Past Perfect (basic)

Past perfect — form

By the time he arrived, he had already quit his job. — had + past participle; action before another past action

Past perfect —

She had never seen snow before she visited Canada. — use to show what happened earlier in the story

Past perfect — key

He had already left by the time I called. — by the time / already / never / before signal past perfect

Common error

He had went to Patagonia. ✗ → He had gone to Patagonia. ✓ — always use past participle, not past simple

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Past Perfect (basic)

1.By the time Chatwin reached Patagonia, he his job at the newspaper.

2.She never visited such a remote place before she went to Mongolia.

3.He already sold most of his belongings when the journey began.

4.Before she wrote her memoir, she hundreds of pages of notes.

5.By the time they arrived at the local village, the festival .

6.He never encountered such an isolated community before that trip.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.First he read about Patagonia. Then he decided to go.

2.First she learned the local customs. Then she arrived.

3.First they never visited a remote place. Then they went to the Sahara.

4.First he sold his camera. Then he started the journey.

5.First she never felt so overwhelmed. Then she arrived in Tokyo.

6.First they studied the map. Then they navigated the city.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

Past Perfect (basic)01EnglishPlans.com