Activity 3: Past Perfect Tense

Step right up for the third act in our past tense series! When you want to talk about something that happened before another action in the past, the Past Perfect Tense is your golden ticket. This tense creates a timeline of events and helps to show their order.

The Time Machine Structure:

With the Past Perfect, it’s like you’re setting the scene for events that had already happened at a certain point in the past. ⌛
Combine ‘had’ with the past participle of the main verb (regular verbs add -ed to the base form; irregular verbs have various forms).

Formulas:

  • Affirmative Sentences: Subject + had + past participle
    • Example: She had finished her meal when I arrived.
  • Negative Sentences: Subject + had not (hadn’t) + past participle
    • Example: They hadn’t met before the conference.
  • Interrogative Sentences: Had + subject + past participle?
    • Example: Had you ever visited the museum before today?

Instructions:

Create sentences that use the Past Perfect tense with the given verbs. These will reflect actions that were completed before others in the past. Think about the sequence of events as you craft your responses. Some will be negative or questions, so choose wisely!

Question 1

By the time we arrived, the meeting ________. (start)

Question 2

She ________ all of her homework before she went to the cinema. (finish)

Question 3

The birds ________ South before the winter began. (fly)

Question 4

He ________ never ________ sushi before last night. (eat)

Question 5

They ________ just ________ the washing-up when we knocked on the door. (do)

Question 6

Before the invention of the printing press, people ________ books by hand. (make)

Question 7

I was angry because he ________ to tell me the truth. (fail)

Question 8

We were late for the movie because we ________ the bus. (miss)

Question 9

Had the class ________ before you arrived? (end)

Question 10

Before the rise of online shopping, I ________ never ________ anything online. (buy)

Question 11

They ________ already ________ to get tickets for the concert but it was sold out. (try)

Question 12

By the time they realized their mistake, I ________ the project. (complete)

Question 13

The garden was beautiful; you could tell that someone ________ a lot of time on it. (spend)

Question 14

We ________ each other for years before we actually met in person. (know)

Question 15

The football team ________ a new coach before the season started. (hire)

Question 16

Had you ever ________ such a beautiful sunset before that evening? (see)

Question 17

She ________ a message, but I never received it. (send)

Question 18

After I ________ the news, I called my family immediately. (hear)

Question 19

Before smartphones, people ________ to use maps to find their way. (have)

Question 20

By the time we got to the station, the train ________ already ________. (leave)

Previous Worksheet
Back to Lesson