Introduction
(4 min)
Hello, dear students!
In this WebQuest, you will go deeper into the world of Perfect Tense - Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous.
These tenses are essential for expressing completed actions before another point in the past and ongoing actions leading up to a specific moment in the past.
By the end of this WebQuest, you will be able to understand them fully, know the difference between these two tenses, become a language expert, and hopefully use them more in your everyday speech.
Task
Play Kahoot online and exercise the Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous tenses.
https://play.kahoot.it/v2/?quizId=c4c276b2-b130-417e-90d0-1aa992595a3b
Past Perfect
Fill in the gaps using Past Perfect tense.
- When I arrived at the cinema, the film had started had _____ (start).
- The man was hit by a red car. The driver_____(not/see) him.
- After they_____(eat) the shellfish, they began to feel sick.
- The girl was afraid. She_____(not/fly) on a plane before.
- Julie didn't arrive until after I _____(leave).
Past Perfect Continuous
Fill in the gaps using the Past Perfect Continuous tense.
- I __________(work) all day, so I didn't want to go out.
- It__________(not/rain) long when I got home.
- They__________(live) in Beijing for three years when he lost his job.
- He was in trouble with the teacher because he__________(not/go) to classes.
- He was red in the face because he__________(run).
Process
Task 1: Past Perfect
The past perfect is made from the verb had and the past participle of a verb:
- She had finished her work before the deadline.
- He realized he had left his keys at home after locking the door.
We can use the past perfect to show the order of two past events. The past perfect shows the earlier action, and the past simple shows the later action.
- When the police arrived, the thief had escaped.
It doesn't matter in which order we say the two events. The following sentence has the same meaning.
- The thief had escaped when the police arrived.
Note that if there's only a single event, we don't use the past perfect, even if it happened long ago.
- The Romans spoke Latin. (NOT The Romans had spoken Latin.)
Task 2: Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous is made from had been and the -ing form of a verb:
- When I entered the room, the kids were sweaty and tired; they had been playing outside all afternoon.
- By the time they arrived at the party, we had been waiting for them for nearly an hour.
We use it for something that happened several times before a point in the past and continued after that point:
- He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a teenager.
We do not usually use the past perfect continuous with stative verbs. We use the past perfect simple instead:
- Up until that moment, I'd never believed (NOT been believing) in astrology.
Watch these videos to understand both tenses fully.
Evaluation
For each exercise you finish, you will win 5 points.
20-25=6
25-30=7
30-35=8
35-40=9
40-50=10
Any lower points you take you have to re-take the exam.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the past perfect tense is a valuable tool for indicating the chronological order of two past events. It is formed using "had" and the past participle of a verb. The past perfect helps establish which action occurred earlier, while the past simple conveys the subsequent event. However, when expressing a single event, the past perfect is unnecessary.
On the other hand, the past perfect continuous tense, formed with "had been" and the -ing form of a verb, highlights actions that repeatedly happened before a specific point in the past and continued beyond that moment. It is beneficial for emphasizing the duration of an ongoing activity. It's important to note that stative verbs are not commonly used in the past perfect continuous; instead, the past perfect simple is preferred for such cases. Understanding and correctly applying these tenses allows for precise and nuanced communication about the timing and duration of past actions.