Past Perfect / Past Simple
Anna ______ when we arrived. (Leave)
Anna had left when we arrived
_____ the meeting ______ when you got there?
Had the meeting started when you got there?
"to eat" in past perfect continuous
had been eating
We use the _________ to talk about actions that were completed before another action or situation in the past.
Past Perfect Simple
You _____ Mandarin before you ______ to China (study/move).
You had studied Mandarin before you moved to China.
I ____ just _____ out when it ________ raining (go/start).
I had just gone out when it started raining.
I was delighted when I found my keys. I ____ (look) for them for hours.
I was delighted when I found my keys. I had been looking for them for hours.
We use ____________ to talk about actions that continued for a period of time before another action or situation in the past.
We use it to focus on the duration of the action. The action may or may not have continued up to the moment we are talking about it.
past perfect continuous
Before the students ________ to write, the teacher _________ their mobile phones (start/collect).
Before the students started to write, the teacher had collected their mobile phones.
Laura _________ her glasses because her brother ________ them (repair, break).
Laura repaired her glasses because her brother had broken them.
We were hungry because we _________ breakfast .(not\have)
We were hungry because we hadn't had breakfast.
We use it to focus on the result of the action, not the duration.
Past Perfect Simple
I________what my mother___________. (Remember, say)
I remembered what my mother had said.
The police_______me what I__________. (Ask, see)
The police asked me what I had seen.
She was exhausted because she _________ (work) since eight o'clock in the morning.
She was exhausted because she had been working since eight o'clock in the morning.
Past Perfect Simple Form
Subject + Auxiliary Verb (HAD) + Main Verb (Past Participle - 3rd column)
Where _____ you ______ before you _____ to Canada? (live, move)
Where had you lived before you moved to Canada?
After they__________ Jakarta, they_______to Singapore. (Visit, fly)
After they had visited Jakarta, they flew to Singapore.
We could have driven you earlier today. We ___________ (not drink) at the party
We could have driven you earlier today. We hadn’t been drinking at the party.
Past Perfect Continuous Form
Subject + Auxiliary Verb (HAD BEEN) + Main Verb (ING)