Past perfect simple and continuous
CONTEXT LISTENING
You are going to hear a teenage boy called Richard talking to his mother. Before you listen, look at the picture and answer these questions.
How has Richard spent the weekend?
How does his mother feel? Why?
Listen and check if you were right.
Listen again and fill in the gaps. Stop the recording when you need to.
Richard: I (1) ’d done the ceiling, and I (2) ______ one wall, when I (3) ______ paint.
Richard: And yesterday afternoon I (4) ______ bored. I (5) ______ to town for a few hours – you know, round the centre. I (6) ______ the shopping – everything on your list – and I (7) ______ all my homework.
Mother: I (8) ______ for only an hour when the car (9) ______ .
Look at your answers and answer these questions.
Look at answers 1, 2 and 3. Did 3 happen before or after 1 and 2? What tenses does Richard use?
Look at answers 4, 5, 6 and 7. Did 4 happen before or after 5, 6 and 7? What tenses does Richard use?
Look at answers 8 and 9. Which happened first? What tenses does Richard’s mother use?
Log into Learnclick to do the exercise and check your answers.
GRAMMAR
Past perfect simple
We use the past perfect simple:
when we are already talking about the past and want to make it clear that we are referring back to an even earlier time:
Yesterday afternoon I was bored. I’d been to town, I’d done the shopping and I’d finished all my homework so I decided to paint my room.
in some sentences with time expressions (when, after, by the time, as soon as) when one event happened before the other:
I’d painted one wall when I ran out of paint.
By the time Richard’s mother got home, he’d finished painting the room.
with the adverbs just, already, ever and never.
They go between the auxiliary and the main verb
He’d just finished painting when his mother came in.
When she got home he’d already finished painting the room.
Until last weekend he’d never painted a room.
Had he ever done any painting before?
We don’t use the past perfect:
if one action happened at the same time as another:
When Richard’s mother saw the room, she was horrified.
(not When Richard’s mother had seen …)
if one action happened immediately after the other and was connected to it.
When Jill heard the baby cry, she ran to pick him up.
(notWhen Jill had heard …)
In sentences like these, the first action is often the cause of the second:
NOTE!
Notice the difference in meaning between these two sentences:
When Richard’s mother came into the room, he stopped painting. (= she came in, so he stopped)
When Richard’s mother came into the room, he’d stopped painting. (= he stopped some time before she came in)
Past Perfect continuous?
We use the...
past perfect continuous
to emphasise a continuous activity or how long it continued:
He had a headache because he’d been playing computer games for hours.
past perfect simple
when we do not need to emphasise a continuous activity or the period of time:
He’d played all of the computer games and wanted to do something different.
past perfect continuous
when we talk about how long something happened up to a point in the past:
How long had you been driving when the car broke down?
By the time she arrived I’d been waiting for two hours.
past perfect simple
when we talk about how many or how often up to a point in the past:
I’d driven six kilometres when the car broke down.
By the time I was 18 I’d visited Canada six times.
NOTE!
State verbs are not usually used in the past perfect continuous:
I’d known her since she was four years old. (not I’d been knowing her…)
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