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Unit 15 · Present perfect and past

Past perfect (I had done)

Study

A

Sarah and Paul went to the same party last week, but they didn't see each other. Paul left the party at 10.30 and Sarah arrived at 11 o'clock. So when Sarah arrived at the party, Paul wasn't there. He had gone home.

›

He had gone home.

had gone is the past perfect:

I/we/they/you had (= I'd etc.) gone
he/she/it (= he'd etc.) seen
finished etc.

The past perfect (simple) is had + past participle (gone/seen/finished etc.).

Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past: Sarah arrived at the party. This is the starting point of the story. Then, if we want to talk about things that happened before this time, we use the past perfect (had …):

›

When Sarah arrived at the party, Paul had already gone home.

Some more examples:

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When we got home last night, we found that somebody had broken into the flat.

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Karen didn't come to the cinema with us. She'd already seen the movie.

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At first I thought I'd done the right thing, but I soon realised that I'd made a big mistake.

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The people sitting next to me on the plane were nervous. They hadn't flown before.

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or They'd never flown before.

B

Compare present perfect (have seen etc.) and past perfect (had seen etc.):

Present perfect Past perfect
have seen had seen
Who is that woman? I've **seen** her before, but I can't remember where. I wasn't sure who she was. I'd **seen** her before, but I couldn't remember where.
We aren't hungry. We've just **had** lunch. We weren't hungry. We'd just **had** lunch.
The house is dirty. They haven't **cleaned** it for weeks. The house was dirty. They hadn't **cleaned** it for weeks.
C

Compare past simple (left, was etc.) and past perfect (had left, had been etc.):

Past simple Past perfect
a: Was Tom there when you arrived? b: Yes, but he **left** soon afterwards. a: Was Tom there when you arrived? b: No, he'd already **left**.
Kate **wasn't** at home when I phoned. She **was** at her mother's house. Kate **had just got** home when I phoned. She'd **been** at her mother's house.

Exercises (3)

0/3 exercises checked
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15.1

Read the situations and write sentences using the words in brackets.

  1. 1
    There was a picture lying on the floor.
    (It / fall / off the wall) It off the wall.example
  2. 2
    The people sitting next to you on the plane were nervous. It was their first flight.
    (They / not / fly / before) They before.
  3. 3
    You went back to your home town recently after many years. It wasn't the same as before.
    (It / change / a lot) It a lot.
  4. 4
    Somebody sang a song. You didn't know it.
    (I / not / hear / it / before) I it before.
  5. 5
    I invited Rachel to the party, but she couldn't come.
    (She / arrange / to do something else) She to do something else.
  6. 6
    You went to the cinema last night. You got to the cinema late.
    (The film / already / start) The film started.
  7. 7
    Last year we went to Mexico. It was our first time there.
    (We / not / be / there / before) We there before.
  8. 8
    I met Daniel last week. It was good to see him again after such a long time.
    (I / not / see / him for five years) I him for five years.
  9. 9
    I offered my friends something to eat, but they weren't hungry.
    (They / just / have / lunch) They lunch.
  10. 10
    Sam played tennis yesterday. He wasn't very good at it because it was his first game ever.
    (He / never / play / before) He before.
15.2

Use the sentences on the left to complete the paragraphs on the right. These sentences are in the order in which they happened – so (a) happened before (b), (b) before (c) etc. But your paragraph begins with the underlined sentence, so sometimes you need the past perfect.

  1. 1
    (a) Somebody broke into the office during the night. (b) We arrived at work in the morning. (c) We called the police.
    We arrived at work in the morning and found that somebody into the office during the night. So we the police.example
  2. 2
    (a) Laura went out this morning. (b) I rang her doorbell. (c) There was no answer.
    I went to Laura's house this morning and rang her doorbell, but no answer. She out.
  3. 3
    (a) Joe came back from holiday a few days ago. (b) I met him the same day. (c) He looked very well.
    I met Joe a few days ago. He from holiday. He looked very well.
  4. 4
    (a) James sent Amy lots of emails. (b) She never replied to them. (c) Yesterday he got a phone call from her. (d) He was surprised.
    Yesterday James from Amy. He surprised. He her lots of emails, but she (to them).
15.3

Put the verb into the correct form, past perfect (I had done) or past simple (I did).

  1. 1
    Paul wasn't at the party when I arrived. (He / go) home.example
  2. 2
    I felt very tired when I got home, so (I / go) straight to bed.
  3. 3
    The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody (go) to bed.
  4. 4
    Mark travels a lot. When I first met him, (he / already / travel) round the world.
  5. 5
    Sorry I'm late. The car (break) down on my way here.
  6. 6
    We were driving along the road when we (we / see) a car which (break) down, so we (we / stop) to help.