00:01Welcome to lesson number 7 of our Spoken English course.
00:04In this lesson, we are going to learn the Past Perfect Tense.
00:07The Past Perfect Tense is used to talk about actions that were completed before another action or time in the
00:13past.
00:14This is a very important tense that will help you express the order of events clearly.
00:19So let us begin.
00:20So what exactly is the Past Perfect Tense?
00:23We use this tense when we want to talk about an action that was completed before another action or before
00:29a specific time in the past.
00:30The structure is simple.
00:32You take the subject, then add had, then add the past participle form of the verb, which is also called
00:38V3, and then the object.
00:40For example, I had drunk coffee.
00:43Here, I is the subject, had is the helping verb, drunk is the past participle of drink, and coffee is
00:49the object.
00:49Now there are some signal words or clue words that tell us we should use the Past Perfect Tense.
00:55These words are, already, never, before, by, by the time, last month, and last year.
01:02Whenever you see these words in a sentence, it is a strong hint that the Past Perfect Tense might be
01:08needed.
01:09Now let us look at positive or affirmative sentences using the subject, I.
01:14Number 1.
01:15I had written a spoken English book before 1995.
01:19Number 2.
01:21I had just eaten dinner before Peter arrived last night.
01:25Number 3.
01:26I had paid the electricity bill before the due date.
01:30Number 4.
01:31I had gone to the office before 9 o'clock today.
01:34Number 5.
01:36I had come back home by the time you called me.
01:39Number 6.
01:40I had never been to Chennai before I joined the degree.
01:44Number 7.
01:45I had given the money to him before he asked me.
01:49Number 8.
01:50I had bought a new bike before I moved to Chennai.
01:54Number 9.
01:56I had retired from the job before your father retired.
02:00Number 10.
02:00I had completed my BTEC before I got married.
02:04Number 11.
02:06I had already taken the money from my parents.
02:09Number 12.
02:11I had done my homework by this time yesterday.
02:14Notice that in every sentence, the word had is followed by the past participle form of the verb.
02:20Now let us practice the same structure with the subject you.
02:23Number 1.
02:24You had written a spoken English book before 1995.
02:28Number 2.
02:29You had paid the electricity bill before the due date.
02:33Number 3.
02:34You had never been to Chennai before you joined the degree.
02:38Number 4.
02:39You had retired from the job before my father retired.
02:43Number 5.
02:45You had done your homework by this time yesterday.
02:48As you can see, the structure remains exactly the same.
02:52The subject changes, but the helping verb had and the past participle do not change.
02:58This same pattern also applies when the subject is your brother and you, or John and you, and so on.
03:04Now let us see how the past perfect tense works with he and she.
03:08With he.
03:09Number 1.
03:09He had written a spoken English book before 1995.
03:13Number 2.
03:14He had paid the electricity bill before the due date.
03:17Number 3.
03:18He had never been to Chennai before he joined the degree.
03:21Number 4.
03:22He had bought a new bike before he moved to Chennai.
03:25Number 5.
03:27He had completed his B-tech before he got married.
03:30Number 6.
03:31He had done his homework by this time yesterday.
03:35With she.
03:36The sentences follow the same pattern.
03:38For example, she had written a spoken English book before 1995.
03:42She had completed her B-tech before she got married.
03:45Notice that the only change is the subject and the possessive pronoun.
03:50His becomes her, and he becomes she.
03:52The word had and the verb form remain the same.
03:55For it we can say, it had eaten dinner before Peter arrived.
03:59Or it had gone to bed before I arrived home.
04:02Let us now look at the subjects, we and they.
04:05With we.
04:05Number 1.
04:07We had written a spoken English book before 1995.
04:10Number 2.
04:11We had paid the electricity bill before the due date.
04:14Number 3.
04:15We had never been to Chennai before we joined degree.
04:19Number 4.
04:20We had bought a new bike before we moved to Chennai.
04:23Number 5.
04:25We had completed our B-tech before we got married.
04:28Number 6.
04:30We had done our homework by this time yesterday.
04:33With they.
04:33They had written a spoken English book before 1995.
04:37They had completed their B-tech before they got married, and so on.
04:40Here is a very important point to remember.
04:43The word had never changes.
04:45It stays the same with all subjects.
04:47Whether the subject is I, you, he, she, it, we, or they, we always use had.
04:52This makes the past perfect tense easier to learn.
04:55Now let us move to negative sentences.
04:58To make a negative sentence in the past perfect tense, we simply add not after had.
05:03So had becomes, had not.
05:06Or in the short form, hadn't.
05:09The structure is, subject plus had not or hadn't.
05:13Plus the past participle, plus the object.
05:16Let us look at examples with the subject I.
05:20Number 1.
05:21I hadn't written a spoken English book before 1995.
05:26Number 2.
05:28I hadn't eaten dinner, before Peter arrived last night.
05:32Number 3.
05:34I hadn't paid the electricity bill before the due date.
05:38Number 4.
05:40I hadn't gone to the office before 9 o'clock today.
05:44Number 5.
05:45I hadn't come back home by the time you called me.
05:48Number 6.
05:50I hadn't been to Chennai before I joined degree.
05:54This same pattern works for all other subjects.
05:57You hadn't, he hadn't, she hadn't, we hadn't, and they hadn't.
06:01This structure does not change.
06:03Let us now see negative sentences with other subjects.
06:06With you, you hadn't written a spoken English book before 1995.
06:10You hadn't paid the electricity bill before the due date.
06:13With he, he hadn't eaten dinner before Peter arrived last night.
06:17He hadn't completed his B-Tech before he got married.
06:19With she, she hadn't gone to the office before 9 o'clock today.
06:23She hadn't done her homework by this time yesterday.
06:26With we, we hadn't been to Chennai before we joined degree.
06:30With they, they hadn't completed their B-Tech before they got married.
06:34Remember, the structure is always the same.
06:36Subject, hadn't, and then the past participle of the verb.
06:40Now, let us learn how to form positive questions in the past perfect tense.
06:45To form a question, we move had to the beginning of the sentence.
06:49The structure becomes, had, plus subject, plus past participle, plus object, and then a question mark.
06:57With I, had I eaten dinner before Peter arrived last night?
07:00Had I gone to the office before 9 o'clock today?
07:03Had I done my homework by this time yesterday?
07:06With you, had you written a spoken English book before 1995?
07:11Had you ever been to Chennai before you joined degree?
07:13Had you completed your B-Tech before you got married?
07:17With he and she, had you paid the electricity bill before the due date?
07:21Had she bought a new bike before she moved to Chennai?
07:24With V and they, had we eaten dinner before Peter arrived last night?
07:28Had they completed their B-Tech before they got married?
07:31Notice that we simply bring hat to the front and add a question mark at the end.
07:36Next, let us learn negative questions.
07:39For negative questions, we use hadn't at the beginning of the sentence.
07:43The structure is, hadn't, plus subject, plus past participle, plus object, and then a question mark.
07:50With I, hadn't I eaten dinner before Peter arrived last night?
07:55Hadn't I paid the electricity bill before the due date?
07:58Hadn't I done my homework by this time yesterday?
08:01With you, hadn't you written a spoken English book before 1995?
08:05Hadn't you ever been to Chennai before you joined degree?
08:08With he and she, hadn't he paid the electricity bill before the due date?
08:13Hadn't she bought a new bike before she moved to Chennai?
08:15With V and they, hadn't we come back home by the time he called us?
08:19Hadn't they ever been to Chennai before they joined degree?
08:22So the only difference between a positive question and a negative question is that we use hadn't instead of had.
08:27Now let us look at some commonly used two sentences in daily life.
08:31These are practical sentences that you can use in your everyday conversations.
08:36Number 1.
08:37I had got this job before I completed my B.Tech.
08:41Number 2.
08:42I had already arrived my home before the rain started.
08:46Number 3.
08:47I had ordered the food before you arrived here.
08:50Number 4.
08:51I had arrived at Inyo by the time the class started.
08:55Number 5.
08:57I had studied everything by the time exams started.
09:01Number 6.
09:03I had learned English at Inyo before you learned.
09:06Number 7.
09:07I had submitted the report to the boss before he asked.
09:11Number 8.
09:12I had bought this bike before I came to Hyderabad.
09:15Number 9.
09:17I had sold my old house before I moved to Bengaluru.
09:20Number 10.
09:22I had never eaten at KFC restaurant before I came here.
09:25Number 11.
09:27I had gone to sleep by the time my father arrived home.
09:30Number 12.
09:31I had never seen my wife before I got married to her.
09:35Number 13.
09:36I had given up smoking before I got married.
09:39Number 14.
09:41I had bought a mobile before my father bought me one.
09:44Number 15.
09:45I had woken up before my brother woke up today.
09:49Let us continue with more daily life sentences.
09:52Number 16.
09:53I had cooked biryani by the time my relatives arrived.
09:56Number 17.
09:58I had written the exam by 12 o'clock this afternoon.
10:01Number 18.
10:02I had driven 50 kilometers by the time accident took place.
10:06Number 19.
10:07I had drunk coffee three times by the time you came here.
10:10Number 20.
10:11I had seen that movie once before I saw it with you.
10:14Number 21.
10:16I had already informed him before you informed him.
10:18Number 22.
10:20I had thrown that paper outside by the time he entered.
10:23Number 23.
10:24I had finished my housework before you woke up today.
10:27Number 24.
10:29I had watched that movie online before you sent it to me.
10:32Number 25.
10:33I had lost my wallet.
10:35That is why I asked you for money.
10:37Number 26.
10:38I had left a meeting before it finished yesterday evening.
10:41Number 27.
10:43I did not buy anything yesterday because I had lost my purse.
10:47Number 28.
10:48I went to Chennai by bus because I had missed the train.
10:51Number 29.
10:52I said that I had never eaten mutton before.
10:55Number 30.
10:56If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam.
10:59Notice that in sentences 27 and 28,
11:02the past perfect tense is used in the second part of the sentence
11:05to show which action happened first.
11:07Let us now summarize what we have learned today.
11:10For positive sentences, the structure is
11:13subject plus hat plus v3 plus object.
11:16For example, I had eaten dinner.
11:18For negative sentences, the structure is
11:20subject plus hadn't plus v3 plus object.
11:24For example, I hadn't eaten dinner.
11:26For questions, the structure is
11:28hat plus subject plus v3 plus object,
11:31followed by a question mark.
11:33For example, had I eaten dinner?
11:35For negative questions, the structure is
11:37hadn't plus subject plus v3 plus object,
11:41followed by a question mark.
11:42For example, hadn't I eaten dinner?
11:45Now, here is your practice task.
11:47Take the daily life sentences we learned
11:50and practice them with other subjects like
11:52you, he, she, it, we, and they.
11:55Also, try converting those sentences
11:58into negative question and negative question forms.
12:02The more you practice,
12:03the more natural these sentences
12:05will become in your daily conversation.
12:07Thank you for watching and keep practicing.
Comments