Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997
13 The past perfect and the past perfect continuous: He had taken/He had been taking
Quick reference
• We form the past perfect with had + the past participle.
Affirmative
It had started
Negative
It hadn’t started
Questions
Had it started?
Short answers: Had it started? - Yes it had/No, it hadn’t.
• If we’re already talking about the past, we use the past perfect to say that something happened before a certain time in the past. It was 10.00. The train had left at 9.50.
• When there are two actions and it’s clear that the first action was completed before the other action started we use the past perfect for the first action.
After Simon had eaten his dinner, he went to bed.
• When one action is an immediate reaction to another we use the past simple for both actions. He ran away as soon as he saw me. She smiled when he spoke to her.
• We form the nast perfect continuous with had + been + -ing.
Affirmative
She had been waiting
Negative
She hadn’t been waiting
Questions
Had she been waiting?
• We use the past perfect continuous when we want to emphasise that something had been in progress continuously up to a certain time in the past.
When I met him, he had been living in London for ten years.
Joanna had been revising for her exams all day, and now she was tired.
1 Rachel Gower left home when she was only 17 and went abroad. She finally returned to England and got married when she was 39. By that time she had done a lot of different things. Write complete sentences using the past perfect. Choose from these verbs.
live
find
spend
not have
fly
have
make
break
not pay
not meet
be
lend
Example: Rachel had Hued in Brazil and Australia.
1 She ... malaria and cholera.
2 She ... a truck driver, a sheep farmer, a helicopter pilot and a journalist.
3 She ... helicopters in the Australian outback.
4 She ... both her legs in a helicopter crash.
5 She ... gold in Northern Australia.
6 She ... a lot of money but she ... most of it.
7 She ... some of the money to friends and they ... her back.
8 But she ... any children and she ... the man she wanted to marry.
2 Alexander and his wife went to a restaurant to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Complete the third sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the previous two sentences, using the word given.
1 The waiter showed them to their table. They asked to see the menu. (had)
When ... they ...
2 He brought them the menu. He finished his cigarette. (had)
He ... after ...
3 Alexander took a sip of his wine. He knew it was off. (taken)
As soon as ...
4 They suddenly lost their appetite. They ate half their chicken. (eaten)
After ...
5 The waiter brought their coffee. They finished their sweet. (had)
... before ...
6 The waiter gave them the bill. He told them that service wasn’t included! (given)
After ..., he ...
3 Complete the sentences, using past perfect + past simple or past simple + past simple.
On 9 May, 1994, a team of six skydivers took off from an airfield near Tucson, Arizona. Once the plane (1 climb) ... to 4,000 metres, five skydivers (2 jump) ... out. After they
(3 jump) ..., their instructor, Greg Robertson, (4 follow) ... them five seconds later. When he (5 look) ... down at the other skydivers he (6 see) ... one of them, Debbie Williams, collide with another. He (7 see) ... immediately that the impact (8 knock) ... her unconscious. When he (9 realise) ... this he (10 make) ... an immediate decision. He still (11 not open) ... his parachute so he (12 dive) ... like Superman at a speed of 300 kph. When he (13 reach) ... her, at a height of 300 metres, he (14 put) ... her into a sitting position and (15 pull) her parachute cord. As soon as he (16 pull) ... it, her parachute (17 open) ... . Once he (18 check) ... that her parachute was OK, he (19 open) ... his own. He (20 not take) ... his eyes off her until she (21 land) ... safely.
4 Tom Bell was involved in a car accident a month ago. Now he is in court. The magistrate is asking him questions. Complete the dialogue, using the past perfect continuous.
’Mr Bell, what/you/do that evening?’ (1) ...
’I/have/a good time. I/talk/to some old friends. I/celebrate/my birthday.’ (2) ...
’you/have/a party?’ (3) ...
’Yes I/-’ (4) ...
’You/drink?’ (5) ...
’Yes, I/-’ (6) ...
’How long/you/drink?’ (7) ...
’I/drink/since about 7 o’clock.’ (8) ...
’I see. Thank you Mr Bell.’