Grammar-Tenses-Past Perfect Tense
Past perfect Tense Blog
Once again Kurulu joins
with us to continue our discussion on Grammar especially
on Past Perfect Tense
Let’s begin
This
is Kurulu. She lives in
a beautiful village. This village is situated near the beach. Therefore
she goes to this beach every weekend. Last Sunday I went to the
beach too. When I went to the beach Kurulu had already come to
the beach. She had not come there alone. She had
visited the beach with her family. It was so late when I went there
and they were all getting ready to go home. They all had
enjoyed at the beach because it had been sunny.
Vihanga, her elder brother had flown his kite
as usual before I went there. His little brother Pavan also had
ridden the pony and her father had walked beside him.
When I went there they were both having an ice-cream. His father said that Pavan had been very
happy because he had enjoyed the ride. Her friends
also had joined them in that visit as usual. Her friends Smanali and
Sepalika had built sand castles and they had
been washed away by the time I went there. They said those castles had
been very beautiful. Kokila and Pahan had
played with a ball. Kokila had thrown the
ball and Pahan had caught it and they were tired and
were relaxing on the beach and the ball was just lying beside them. Sandaras had
collected sea shells and there were many
seashell in his bag. After building sand castles Samanali and
Seplaika had bathed in the sea and they were
sitting on a rock with wet hair. What had Kurulu done all
this time at the beach? Had she swum in
the sea? Yes she had swum in the sea that day. Kurulu had not watched the
rolling waves in the sea but had collect sea
shells as usual. She showed me the shells she had collected. They had
not idled a single moment today too. Their mother had not
waited sitting on a rock that day. She had helped Kurulu to
collect seashells. She also had joined them
at play that day. The ice-cream seller had sold all his
ice cream because when I went to buy one there were none. The people at the
beach had eaten all
his ice-cream. He had sold different kinds of ice-cream.
The Kadala vendor had not come to the beach thatday. Where
had the kadala vendor gone? Nobody
knew! There had been a popcorn seller on that day but when I went there he also had left. That
Sunday had not been a dull day. It had
been an enjoyable day for all of them
because they all were shouting and laughing happily when I went there but I could not enjoy much
because the sun set as soon as I went there.
This paragraph tells us
what Kurulu and her family had done at the beach before I went there Last
Sunday.
All
these things happened before a particular time in
the past that is before I went to the beach.
I went to the beach last Sunday and it happened in the past. All other things happened before that and by now
everything is over.
We use
Past perfect Tense
to
speak about
actions
that had
taken place
before
a particular
point of time
in the past
Therefore the above story
also tells us about how Kuruulu, her family and her friends had spent at the beach Last week end before I went
there.
Here there are two past
actions
I went to
the beach.
Kurulu
came to the beach.
One past action happens before another past
action
Kurulu
came to the beach.
before
I went to
the beach.
We use past perfect tense
to describe the action happened first and say:
Kurulu had come to the
beach when I went to the beach.
Therefore
To describe actions of
Kurulu and others which had started and completed before I went to the beach we
use Past Perfect Tense.
Look at the following
sentences again paying attention to the highlighted verbs
When I went to the beach
Kurulu had already come to the beach.
She had not come there
alone.
She had
visited the beach with her family.
They all had enjoyed at
the beach because it had been sunny.
Vihanga, her elder brother had
flown his kite as usual before I went there.
His little brother
Pavan also had ridden the pony and her father had
walked beside him.
Pavan had
been very happy because he had enjoyed the ride.
Her friends also had
joined them in that visit as usual.
Her friends Smanali and
Sepalika had built sand castles and they had
been washed awa by the time I went there.
They said those castles had
been very beautiful.
Kokila and Pahan had
played with a ball.
Kokila had
thrown the ball and Pahan had
caught it.
Sandaras had
collected sea shells and there were many
seashell in his bag.
After building sand castles Samanali and
Seplaika had bathed.
What
had Kurulu done all this time at the
beach?
Had she swum in
the sea?
Yes she had
swum in the sea that day.
Kurulu had not watched the
rolling waves in the sea but had collect sea
shells as usual.
She showed me the shells she had
collected.
They had
not idled a single moment today too.
Their mother had not
waited sitting on a rock that day.
She had helped Kurulu to
collect seashells
She also had
joined them at play that day.
The ice-cream seller had
sold all his ice cream because when I went to buy one there were none.
The people at the beach had
eaten all
his ice-cream.
He had
sold different kinds of ice-cream.
The Kadala vendor had not
come to the beach that day.
Where
had the kadala vendor gone?
There had
been a popcorn seller on that day.
When I went there he also had
left.
That Sunday had not
been a dull day.
It had
been an enjoyable day for all of them.
All these sentences talk
about
Actions which had happened
Kurulu had
already come to the beach.
She had
visited the beach with her family.
Actions which had not
happened
She had not
come here alone.
The Kadala vendor had not
come to the beach today.
We can
also ask
Questions about the actions
which had happened
What had Kurulu done all
this time at the beach?
Had she swum in
the sea?
Had she built sand
castles?
Where had the
kadala vendor gone?
Remember!
Not only the actions
we can also say and ask
Something about
them and that weekend
It had
been sunny.
Had Pavan been happy?
It had
been an enjoyable day for all of them
Those castles had been very
beautiful.
They all use past perfect
form because those actions had started and completed before another action in
the past.
Look at the following
examples
 |
Vihanga, her elder
brother had flown a kite before I went there.
Here there are two past
actions.
Vihanga,
her elder brother flew a kite.
I went there
Here Vihanga started
flying the kite in the past and he
had completed that action before I went there which is
also over by now.
So we use past perfect form to refer the first
action and say
Vihanga had
flown a kite
Here is another example
 |
The ice-cream seller had sold all his
ice cream because when I went to buy one there were none.
Here there are two past actions.
The ice-cream
seller sold all his ice cream.
I went to buy
one
Here the ice-cream seller started
selling ice-cream few hours ago and had completed
that action when I went to buy one which is also happened in the past.
So we use past perfect form
and say
The ice-cream
seller had
sold all his
ice cream.
Remember!
When there two past actions
and one past action happens before another
past action we use past perfect to talk about
the first past action.
Do you notice any
difference in the use of the verb?
Yes, there is a difference.
Some sentences used action verbs in the
past participle form with the verbs had
Kokila and Pavan had
played with a ball.
Kokila had
thrown the ball and Pavan had
caught it.
But some others used auxiliary
verbs
It had
been an enjoyable day for all of them
It had
been sunny.
And in some has
not before the verb.
This Sunday had not been a dull
day.
She had
not come here alone.
So we need to learn
the reason for that difference
Next we are going to learn
the reason.
For that we need to learn how
the Present Perfect Tense sentences are formed.
Let’s learn that
Let’s look at
how Present Perfect Tense sentences are formed.
When talking about actions
happened we use
Subject + had + Verb + Object /
Adverbial
(Past
participle form)
She had visited the beach
with her family.
They all had
enjoyed at the beach
Remember!
In the Past Perfect Tense
also the verb is used in the Past Participle form
Past
Participle form is also formed as follows.
We also add ed, d, ied & t at
the end of the verb when forming the verb in the past participle form
We add ed to most
of the verbs when making the past participle form.
wait - waited
join - joined
collect -collected
watch - watched
When do we add d?
We add d when the
verb ends in e
Examples
prepare -
prepared
share -shared
care -
cared
bathe –
bathed
When do we add ied?
When the verb ends in y and
followed by a consonant we drop y and
add ied
cry - cried
hurry- hurried
burry- buried
Carry- carried
marry -
married
But we keep y and
add ed when the verb ends in y followed
by a vowel
play -
played
delay
- delayed
employ -
employed
stay - stayed
There are some unusual verbs
in English
They never follow the
above rule
What are they?
They are
say
pay lay
They are made in the past
said paid
laid
In some English verbs t is
added after the base form
learn -
learnt
burn -
burnt
meant - meant
send
- sent
spend
- spent
These verbs are called regular or weak verbs
because they take the same pattern or regular pattern when forming the
past participle .
There are also strong verbs
or irregular verbs
How do they take their past participle
form?
In some words the vowel
sound is changed
meet
- met
get
– got
lead -
led
Some take a completely
different word
do
- done
go
– gone
eat
- eaten
give
- given
hide -
hidden
steal -
stolen
write - written
swim -
swum
sing – sung
sink - sunk
begin - begun
teach –
taught
catch - caught
think - thought
bring - brought
seek
- sought
buy -
bought
Some take the same word
cut - cut
put – put
shut – shut
hit - hit
come
- come
run
- run
Some take the past form
of the word
have - had
loose – lost
make –made
Now see how the sentences
are structured.
If the subject is singular
or plural, or if we
talk about one person or many, we use
Subject + had + verb + Object /
Adverbial
(Past
participle form)
Kokila had thrown the ball.
Smanali and Sepalika had built sand
castles on the beach
More examples
|
An ice-cream seller had
sold lot of ice cream.
Vihanga, her elder
brother had flown a kite.
Kokila had thrown the ball.
Kokila and Pahan had
played with a ball.
They all had enjoyed at
the beach .
Her friends also had
joined them.
If we talk something about somebody or something in
the past perfect
we use
Subject + auxiliary
verb + Compliment
/ Adverbial
(had
been)
It had
been an enjoyable day for all of them
They had
been happy at the beach.
They had been happy at
the beach.
More examples
It had
been sunny.
Pavan had
been happy riding the pony.
Remember!
When we use a pronoun
as the subject,
If the subject
is I we use the helping
verb had
If the subject is He, She and It we use
the helping verb had
If the subject is You, We and They we use
the helping verb had
Do the following activities
Activity 1
Fill the blanks with the past Perfect form of the verb. Use the
verb stems in the brackets.
1. Some
tourists ……… ………… along the beach
so they are tired. (run)
2. Kurulu’s
father ……… ……..beside the pony and now he is helping her
brother to get down.(walk)
3. The
children ……… ………… ice-cream.(eat)
4. The
boats …… ……….. to the beach.(return)
5. Kurulu’s
younger brother ……… …………… a pony .(ride)
6. Kurulu ……… …………... to
the beach. (be)
7. Pavan’s
father ……… …………. with him (come)
8. The
ice cream seller ………………. ice-cream to the children(give)
9. The
boys …………… …………. kites.(make)
10. I
………… ………….. my car towards the beach.(drive)
11. Kurulu’s
mother……… …………… on a rock. (sit)
12.Some
tourists …… … …….……. in the
sea now. (swim)
13. The poor children at
the beech ..... ............ hungry. (be)
14. the Kadala vendor ....
........... under the tree for a long time selling kadala (be)
Activity
2
Fill the blanks with the past perfect form of the verb. Use the
verb stems in the brackets.
1.
Kurulu’s
mother ……… …………… rolling waves.(watch).
2.
The birds
……… …………. in the sky.(fly)
3.
Pavan ……… ……… the
ball. (catch)
4.
Kurulu’s father
……. …….…... her brother to fly the kite.( teach)
5.
The
children ………. …………. for
ice-cream.(run)
6.
Kurulu ……
…...……… to collect most beautiful shells. (try)
When talking about actions
that has not happened
(negative form) we use
had not
Subject + had not + Verb + Object /
Adverbial
(Past
participle form)
She had not
gone there
alone.
The Kadala vendor had not come
to the
beach today.
More examples
Pavan had not flown kites.
Mother hadn’t
had a bath.
Vihanga had not
ridden the pony.
|
When talking about something about someone or something we use
Subject +had+ not +been
+ Compliment/Adverbial
It had
not been a dull
day.
They
had
not been
bored
on that day.
More examples
Kurulu and her friends had not
been bored.
The sea had not been rough.
Pavan had not been sad on
that day
Do the following
activities
Activity
3
Change the following sentences in to negative form.
1. The birds
had flown in the sky.
2. Kurulu’s
mother had made sand castles.
3. Kurulu had
collected sea shells.
4. The
ice-cream seller had sold cool drinks at the beach.
5. Vihanga
had bought kites.
6. You had
built the sand castles well.
7. I had
come to the beach by my car.
8. They had
enjoyed the day at the beach.
When asking about actions
happen (interrogative form) we use
Had
We form ‘yes,
no’ questions in the present simple by adding
the auxiliary
Had before the subject of
the verb.
What are ‘yes,
no’ questions?
They are the questions which
get either yes or no as the answer.
If the subject is singular or
about one person and also if we ask about a plural subject or
if it is more than one person we use Had before the subject
of the verb
Had
+ Subject
+ Verb
+ Object / Adverbial
Had she gone to
the beach last week end?
Yes, she had.
Had she gone to
the beach alone?
No, she had
not.
Had they flown kites?
Yes, they
had.
Had the
children bought kites?
No, they
hadn’t.
More examples
Had Pavan ridden pony?
Yes he had.
Had mother
had a bath?
No, she hadn’t
Had the
children made sand castles?
Yes, they had.
When talking about
something about someone or something we use
Had
+ Subject + been + Compliment
/ Adverbial
Had Pavan
been
happy?
Yes, he had
been happy.
Had they
been
at
the beach?
Yes, they had
been at the beach.
Do the following activities
Activity 4
Make questions to get the following as the answers.
1.
Yes, the birds had flown in the sky.
2.
No, kurulu’s mother had not made sand castles.
3.
Yes, Kurulu had collected sea shells.
4.
No, the ice-cream seller had not sold cool
drinks.
5.
Yes, Vihanga had flown a kite.
6.
Yes, you had built the sand castles well.
7.
No, I had not come to the beach today.
8.
No, the children had not sun bathed.
We form ‘information’ questions in the
past simple by adding a question word before the auxiliary had before
the subject of the verb.
What are ‘information’ questions?
They are the questions which
get certain information as the answer.
If the subject is singular or
plural or if we ask about one person we or more than
one person we use had after the question word
Question word + had +
Subject + Verb + Adverbial
Where had she
gone today?
She had gone to the
beach today.
What had they
collected at the beach?
They had
collected seashells at the beach.
More examples
 |
What had the
children built on the beach?
The children had
built sand castles.
Where had mother sat at the
beach?
She had sat on a rock.
What had pavan ridden?
Pavan had
ridden a pony.
When talking about
something about someone or something we use
Question word + had +
Subject + been + Adverbial
Where had Kurulu
been today?
Kurulu had
been to the beach.
More examples
Why had they been happy?
They had been happy because
the day has been good.
Do the following activities
Activity
5
Make questions to get the highlighted word or phrase as the
answers.
1. The birds had
flown in the sky.
2. Kurulu’s
mother hadn’t made sand castles.
3. Kurulu
had collected sea shells.
4. The
ice-cream seller had sold ice-cream at the beach.
5. Vihanga
had bought two kites.
6. You had
built the sand castles well.
7. I had
come to the beach by my car.
8. They had
enjoyed a lot because it is a sunny day.
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