2.7: Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous Tenses
- Page ID
- 52281
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Read the following sentences. What are the verbs? What tense is used for each verb?
- They had already packed a survival kit when the earthquake hit
- When the wildfires swept across California, many people hadn't been ready
In each sentence, which event happened first? Which event happened second? How is the past perfect formed?
Answers
- In the first sentence, the verbs are "had," "packed," and "hit," they had packed first and the earthquake hit second
- In the second sentence, the verbs are "swept" and "hadn't been," the wildfires swept second and people hadn't been ready first
- The past perfect is formed with "had" + past participle
What are the verbs in these sentences? Do the sentences have the same meaning, or different?
- They were packing a survival kit when the earthquake hit
- They had packed a survival kit when the earthquake hit
In which sentence are they ready for the earthquake? In which sentence are they not yet ready? How is past present continuous formed (this is used in the first sentence)?
Answers
- In the first sentence, the verbs are "were packing" and "hit," they are not yet ready in this sentence
- In the second sentence, the verbs are "had packed" and "hit," they are ready for the earthquake in this sentence
- The past perfect continuous is formed with "had" + "been" + verb + -ing
Spelling Rules for Adding -ing to a Verb (Present Participle)
| No change |
Most verbs: Add -ing |
Read--reading Talk--talking Say--saying Want--wanting |
| No change |
Verbs that end in -y: Add -ing |
Study--studying Carry--carrying Play--playing |
| Change |
Verbs that end in -e: Drop the -e and add -ing |
Wake--waking Make--making Tape--taping |
| Change |
Verbs that end in -ie: Change the -ie to -y |
Die--dying Lie--lying |
| Change |
Verbs the end in CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) one-syllable: Double the last letter |
Stop--stopping Sit--sitting Ban--banning |
| Change |
Verbs that end in CVC two-syllable: If the stress is on the last syllable, double the last letter |
Begin--beginning Refer--referring BUT Listen--listening Cancel--canceling |
Ninety Common Irregular Verbs
Be--was/were--been
Beat--beat--beaten
Become--became--become
Begin--began--begun
Blow--blew--blown
Break--broke--broken
Bring--brought--brought
Build--built--built
Burst--burst--burst
Buy--bought--bought
Catch--caught--caught
Choose--chose--chosen
Come--came--come
Cost--cost--cost
Cut--cut--cut
Deal--dealt--dealt
Do--die--done
Drink--drank--drunk
Drive--drove--driven
Eat--ate--eaten
Forgive--forgave--forgiven
Freeze--froze--frozen
Get--got--got/gotten
Give--gave--given
Go--went--gone
Grow--grew--grown
Have--had--had
Fall--fell--fallen
Feed--fed--fed
Feel--felt--felt
Fight--fought--fought
Find--found--found
Fly--flew--flown
Forbid--forbade--forbidden
Forget--forgot--forgotten
Hear--heard--heard
Hide--hid--hidden
Hit--hit--hit
Hold--held--held
Hurt--hurt--hurt
Keep--kept--kept
Know--knew--known
Lay--laid--laid
Lead--led--led
Leave--left--left
Let--let--let
Lie--lay--lain (be in horizontal position; "lie" is regular when it means not to tell the truth)
Lose--lost--lost
Make--made--made
Meet--met--met
Pay--paid--paid
Put--put--put
Quit--quit--quit
Read--read--read
Ride--rode--ridden
Ring--rang--rung
Rise--rose--risen
Run--ran--run
Say--said--said
See--saw--seen
Seek--sought--sought
Sell--sold--sold
Send--sent--sent
Set--set--set
Shake--shook--shaken
Shine--shone--shone
Sing--sang--sung
Sleep--slept--slept
Speak--spoke--spoken
Spend--spent--spent
Spring--sprang--sprung
Stand--stood--stood
Steal--stole--stolen
Swim--swam--swum
Swing--swung--swung
Take--took--taken
Teach--taught--taught
Tear--tore--torn
Tell--told--told
Think--thought--thought
Throw--threw--thrown
Understand--understood--understood
Wake--woke--woken
Wear--wore--worn
Win--won--won
Write--wrote--written
Past Perfect Meaning and Use
Past perfect is used when we want to talk about two events in the past. The first event uses past perfect and the second event uses simple past or past continuous. Both events are completed in the past
- They packed first; then the earthquake hit
Past Perfect Continuous Meaning and Use
Past perfect continuous is used when we want to discuss two events in the past. The first event began before the second event. The second event interrupted the first. We use past continuous for the first (long) event and simple past for the second (interrupting) event
- They had been packing when the earthquake hit
- (They were packing, but the earthquake interrupted them and they had to stop)
Videos and Other Resources
Watch this video for more explanation of past perfect tense...
Practice past perfect with this fun grammar gameshow...
For more written explanation and exercises, try this website and this website...
Practice the Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous Tenses
- Watch the Nepal Earthquake video again. Write three sentences using the past perfect continuous. The earthquake hit at 11:52. What had people been doing when the earthquake hit?
- Read the article "Alaska Earthquake" again. Had Kirsten Arnold experienced an earthquake before the one in Alaska? Where?
- Write three sentences. What are some things you hadn't tried before you started this class?