Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Tense :
Read the following paragraph.
Mrs. Hariharan was delighted when she reached home. Her children had cleared up the whole house. They had put back all the toys into the cupboard. They had neatly stacked the clothes in the wardrobe and they had made all the beds. The whole house looked spic and span! She wondered what had happened to create such a miracle. She called all the children. They came out and cried out, ‘Happy Birthday, Mummy!’ ‘That was the best gift that I had ever got,’ she used to always say later.
All the words in bold are in the past perfect tense. As you can see, the past perfect tense is formed by using the word HAD with the past participle of the verb.
The past perfect tense is used when we are talking about an action in the past which was completed before a particular point of time in the past.
For example :
The crowd had entered the auditorium before 6:00 p.m.
The past perfect tense is used when we have sentences beginning with IF or WHEN and we are talking about some condition that could not be met.
For example :
If I had the money, I would have gone to America.
In this sentence, I did not go to America because I did not have the money.
1. My brother had explained the route very clearly before I started out.
2. Karan had asked for the CD before you, so I am giving it to him.
3. All the participants had gathered at the ground to meet the superstar.
4. If the road had not been slippery, the accident would not have occurred.
5. The children had learnt the song earlier, so they were able to sing it very well.
6. All the animals had gathered in the middle of the jungle as they wanted to hear what the lion wanted to say.
7. The rich man had left all his property to charitable organisations.
8. It was 5 o’clock in the evening. All the children had left for their homes and the school grounds were empty.
9. The thief had carried all the tools to pick the lock, so he took no time to open the door.
10. The swallows had built their nest and had advised all the other birds in the trees as well.
Fill in the blanks using the simple past or the past perfect tense of the verbs.
1. The next patient was an old man. He said that he had hurt himself while crossing the road.
2. The flowers were fresh. They had watered by the gardener yesterday.
3. By the time I reached home, my sister had eaten up all the cake.
4. I had parked my car near the shop before going to meet Leela.
5. Ishaan carried all the paintings to the top floor because the lift had broken down.
6. Priya understood the concept after she had read many books.
7. Marini placed the flowers on the altar after the priest hadbroken the coconut.
8. Jill came tumbling down the hill after Jack had hurt his head.
9. The driver got into the car after he had placed the luggage in the boot.
10. The doctor signed the papers after he had examined all the documents.
Past Perfect Tense
The Sentences Index
