Grammar: Past Perfect This grammar sometimes works with the simple past using connectors as: before, because or that When speaking with the past perfect tense, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb: * PAST PERFECT BEFORE SIMPLE PAST * SIMPLE PAST BECAUSE PAST PERFECT • Action taking place before a certain time in the past (Putting emphasis only on the fact, not the duration) Example: Maria had attended the people in the factory or Maria had attended the people in the factory before my father came to the house I had I'd you had you'd he had she had it had he'd she'd it'd we had we'd they had they'd How we make the Past Perfect Tense? The structure of the past perfect tense is: subject + Or personal pronouns auxiliary verb HAVE + main verb conjugated in simple past tense past participle had V3 + Complement For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb Look at these example sentences with the past perfect tense: Complete Before we arrived at school the classes _ (start) I felt exhausted because I (run) ten miles He _ (study) that book before he arrived in Pakistan He _ (sell) all the copies of the thesaurus before we got there We went to his place for dinner but to our great surprise he (have) his dinner When I got up, rather late, the sun (rise) subject auxiliary verb main verb + I had finished my work + You had stopped before me - She had not gone to school - We had not left ? Had you arrived? ? Had they eaten dinner? The storm destroyed the sandcastle that we (build) He (not / be) to Cape Town before 1997 When she went out to play, she (do / already) her homework My brother ate all of the cake that our mum (make) The doctor took off the plaster that he (put on) The waiter brought a drink that I (not / order) I could not remember the poem we (learn) The children collected the chestnuts that (fall) six weeks before the week before from the tree