Past perfect and past perfect continuous

We use the Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Continuous to talk about actions that

occurred at different times in the past.

When used with the Past Simple, the Past Perfect shows that one action is older than

another.

a) When I got home, he had cooked (past simple, past perfect)

First the man cooked dinner, then the other person got home.

You could say this using the past simple, but then you must keep the actions in the

order that they happened (He cooked dinner before I got home).

b) He cooked dinner, then I got (past simple, past simple)

The Past Perfect is also used to make stories more interesting. By using this

structure, you can start the story in the middle, and go back in time to explain why it

happened. This gives you more suspense, which is better for the reader.

The Past Perfect is different from the Past Perfect Continuous because it talks

about finished and completed actions, whereas the Past Perfect Continuous talks

about actions that were in duration or being repeated at a time in the past.

When I saw him in the street, I hid behind the bus stop, because I didn’t want him to

see that I had been eating ice cream when I was supposed to be on a diet.

Exercise 1

Complete these sentences by changing the form of the verb in brackets.

1. I was feeling tired because I ……………………….. (be) up all night.
2. She went to the doctor because she hadn’t ……………………….. (feel) well

the day before.

3. The students didn’t feel worried about the exam as they ………………………..

(study) hard for months before their FCE exam.

4. He was walking fast as he ……………………….. (woke up) late.
5. The city council ……………………….. (do) road works for months before the

new street was ready for use.

6. My mother went to the art shop to buy more paint as she

……………………….. (use) all of her supplies.

7. The boys were tired because they ……………………….. (play) football all

afternoon.

8. There were no more tickets for the musical because they

……………………….. (sell out) on the first day of ticket sales.