Past perfect

Past simple
We use the past perfect simple to talk about an earlier past: events which
We use the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past. happened before the main event.

• We ate out yesterday. (the action is finished) Earlier single events

We use the past perfect simple to talk about earlier events and experiences, or
In a story, we use the past simple to talk about past events in chronological
single actions completed earlier in the past.
order; i.e. the main events of a story.

• When she opened the door, he had already left.

• When she opened the door, she pretended that we weren’t there and
she went to her room. • I realised that I had been there before.
• He called me and told me to go, but when I arrived he wasn’t there. • When I met her, I had never been in a serious relationship.
• He noticed I had cleaned the car. It was smooth and shiny.
We also use the past simple to talk about past habits or past states.
We use the past perfect simple (and not continuous) to say how much or how
many we had done of something earlier in the past.
• We often went to the bar for a drink before dinner.
• He really liked sport, and was very fit.
• We had driven 500 miles and we needed some rest.
• How many hours had he slept when you woke him up?

Duration from earlier in the past (stative verbs)

Past continuous We use the past perfect simple with stative verbs to talk about states or
situations that had started earlier in the past. We often use how
We use the past continuous the set the scene in a story. long, for or since, always, etc.

• Last night I was walking home and listening to my ipod when … • The day Anne died, they had been married for 48 years.
• The sun was shinning and lots of tourists were lying on the beach. Suddenly … • The day I left, I had been in England for exactly 4 years.
• She told me she had always hated her sister.
We use the past continuous for actions in progress in the past or longer actions
interrupted by shorter actions in past simple.

• After dinner I went into the living room and saw that she was crying.
• When she opened the door, we were talking about her.
Usually vs. Used to Modals for Deduction
USUALLY Use and Form:
The following modals can be used to make guesses about a present situation.
“Usually” is used for saying what is true or what happens regularly in the
present. must + infinitive
Examples: Use this when you make a guess and you are almost certain that your guess is
▪ He usually gets home about six o’clock. correct.
▪ Is your friend usually so rude? ‘Where’s John?’
Or as commonly or habitually happens: As usual ‘He’s not here. He must be in the bathroom.’
Examples: may + infinitive
▪ Dictionaries are usually printed on thin paper. might + infinitive
▪ The 6 p.m. train is usually very crowded. could + infinitive
“Usually” is followed by an infinitive or infinitive + s. Use this when you make a guess but you are only suggesting one possibility.
Examples: You are not certain you are correct.
▪ The children usually stay with their grandparents for a week in the summer. ‘Where’s John?’
▪ She usually plays games in her room. ‘He’s not here. He may be in the bathroom, or he might be in the kitchen, or
he could be outside.’
B. USED TO
“Used to” is used for saying what was true or what happened regularly in may not + infinitive
the past, especially when you want to emphasize that this is not true or does not might not + infinitive
happen now Use this when you make a guess about what is not true, but you are only
Examples: suggesting one possibility. You are not certain you are correct.
▪ Long time ago A great number of women used to die in childbirth. ‘Where’s John?’
▪ In those days, people used to write a lot more letters. ‘He’s not here. He may not be at work today.’
“Used to” is usually followed by an infinitive:
Examples: NOTE: Do not use could not here.
▪ We used to swim in the river. can’t + infinitive
▪ He used to go on foot to school. Use this when you make a guess about what is not true, and you are almost
But sometimes the following infinitive is left out. certain that your guess is correct.
Examples: ‘Where’s John? Is he in the kitchen?’
▪ I don’t play golf now, but I used to. ‘No, he can’t be. I was in there a minute ago.’
▪ They study hard now, but they didn’t use to.
Remember that “Used to” only exists as a past tense.
NOTE: you cannot use: mustn’t + infinitive to make deductions about what is not

true
Passive Voice Reported Speech
Use:
Form: Use reported speech to talk about what another person said in the past.
You can use the passive voice in all tenses. Use the correct form of be + the Eve: ‘I went to the party on Friday night’.
James: ‘Eve said that she had gone to the party on Friday night’.
past participle of the verb.
Form:
Present Past participle The workers collect the rubbish 1) When reporting speech, the verb in the sentence may shift to a past tense.
Simple: of Wednesdays.
I am => The rubbish is collected on changes
am / is / are was / were
to
you / they / are Thursdays.
we is “I am fine.” She said that she was fine.
It / She / he taken changes
present simple past simple
given to
Past Simple: built People built the castle over 800 “I like it.” He said he liked it.
you / they / made years ago. changes
we were => The castle was built over present continuous past continuous
eaten to
I / It / She / was brought 800 years ago.
“She’s sleeping.” He said that she was sleeping.
he cooked changes
left... will would
Present Someone has taken my book! to
Perfect: => My book has been taken! “I’ll be there.” You said that you’d be there.
I / you / they have changes
/ we been can could
to
It / She / he has been You said that you could come to the
“I can come to the meeting.”
meeting.
Past Perfect: When we arrived at the airport, changes
I / you / they someone had resold our tickets. past simple past perfect
to
/ we / it / she had => When we arrived at the Tom said that he had done the
/ he been airport, our tickets had been “I did the shopping.”
shopping.
resold. changes
present perfect past perfect
Modals You must wear a hard hat in this to
I / you / they area. “I’ve read that book.” I told him that I’d read the book.
/ we / it / she can be => Hard harts must be worn in past continuous
changes
past perfect continuous
/ he will be this area. to
would “She was walking home He said that she had been walking home
be alone.” alone.
must be changes
should present perfect continuous past perfect continuous
to
be “I’ve been working,” I told him that I’d been working.
could be 2) To report speech, use He / She / I said (that) ...
You can also use He / She told me (that)...; I told him / her (that)...

3) Don’t use quotation marks (“) when reporting speech.

 4) References to times in the past also may need to change when using
reported speech, if that time is no longer the same. First Conditional
this morning / week / Use:
→that morning / week / month The first conditional structure is used to talk about something which will or may
month
yesterday →the previous day happen in the future as a result of something else.
last week / month →the previous week / month Example: If it rains tomorrow, I’ll stay at home.
ago →earlier / previously Form:
the following Make the first conditional in this way.
tomorrow →
day
next week / month → the following week / month If I present simple , I will / won’t verb
When you you might / might (infinitive
he he not form)
she... she...
Examples: If I see Tom, I will tell him the news.
When you visit, we might go to the park.
Or
Gerunds and Infinitives
I will / won’t verb if I present simple
We use gerunds (verb + ing): you might / might (infinitive form) when you
he not he
she... she...
• After certain verbs - I enjoy singing Examples: She’ll be late if she doesn’t hurry up.
• After prepositions - I drank a cup of coffee before leaving You might not pass your exams if you watch television all the time.
• As the subject or object of a sentence - Swimming is good exercise
Second Conditional
We use 'to' + infinitive: Use:
The second conditional structure is used to talk about imaginary situations and
• After certain verbs - We decided to leave the consequences.
• After many adjectives - It's difficult to get up early Example: If I had a car, I could visit my friend.
• To show purpose - I came to London to study English (But the truth is, I do not have a car, and I cannot visit my
friend).
The second conditional structure is also used to talk about imaginary abilities
We use the bare infinitive (the infinitive without 'to'):
and the consequences.
Example: If I could fly, I wouldn’t need a car.
• After modal verbs - I can meet you at six o'clock (But the truth is, I cannot fly, and so I need a car.)
• After 'let', 'make' and (sometimes) 'help' - The teacher let us leave early
Form:
• After some verbs of perception (see, watch, hear, notice, feel, sense) - I watched
1) Make the second conditional in this way.
her walk away
• After expressions with 'why' - why go out the night before an exam? If I past simple , I would / verb
you you wouldn’t (infinitive
he he ‘d form)
she... she... could / couldn’t
Example: If we had more money, we would buy that house.
Or than certain consequences.
You might have had an accident if you’d driven home in the snow last night.
I would / verb if I past simple
you wouldn’t (infinitive form) you c) Sometimes the if clause is implied but not spoken.
he ‘d he ‘I’d have helped.’
she... could / couldn’t she... means ‘I’d have helped if you’d asked me.’
Example: She’d be more successful if she worked harder. ‘I wouldn’t have said that.’
means ‘I wouldn’t have said that if I’d been there.’

Third Conditional
Tag Questions
Use:
Use the third conditional to talk about past events. Use it to describe what Use:
could have happened (event ‘b’) as a result of something else (event ‘a’). Use tag questions in two situations.
However, neither event a nor event b happened. Therefore the third conditional 1) You are not sure if something is true, so you want to check. In this case, your
describes hypothetical, imaginary situations. voice should rise when you say the question tag.

If I had been at home yesterday, I’d have got your phone call. You’re not going now, are you?
(But, I was not at home, and I didn’t receive your call.)
2) You know something is true. You want to include/involve another person in
Form:
the conversation. In this case, your voice should fall when you say the tag. It
a) Make the third conditional structure this way:
does not sound like a question.
would have
If past perfect , would’ve past participle He doesn’t live here now, does he?
(had + past participle) ‘d have
Form:
(hadn’t + past wouldn’t have
Question tags are either:
participle)
1) positive statements with short, negative questions at the end.
EVENT A EVENT B These tags check something that you believe is true.
If you’d told me that Anna had put on weight, I wouldn’t have congratulated her It’s Monday today, isn’t it?
on becoming pregnant.
2) negative statements with short, positive questions at the end.
These tags check something that you believe is false.
Or: It’s not raining, is it?

I / you / he / would have Make question tags this way:

she / we / it / would’ve past participle if past perfect 1) If there is an auxiliary verb or a modal verb, write it in the opposite form
they ‘d have (had + past participle) (positive or negative) at the end of the sentence. Then write the subject
wouldn’t have (hadn’t + past pronoun of the sentence.
participle) Ian’s nice, isn’t he?
EVENT B EVENT A Laura hasn’t arrived yet, has she?
I can’t do anything to help, can I?
We won’t be late, will we?
Jim wouldn’t have made those mistakes if you had trained him properly.
Caution:
b) You can also use may have / may not have, might have / might not
CAUTION: Use aren’t with I’m in questions tags.
have or could have / couldn’t have to describe less certain possibilities rather
I’m a bit careless, aren’t I? NOT I’m a bit careless, am not
I? Relative Pronouns
2) In present and past simple sentences, use do, does or did in the question The following relative pronouns are used in defining relative clauses. These
tag. relative pronouns appear at the start of the defining relative clause and refer to
Brian and Cathy don’t eat meat, do they? a noun that appears earlier in the sentence.
Your dad lives abroad, doesn’t he?
Your friends enjoyed themselves, didn’t they?
3) Use a positive question tag after never. Person Thing Place Time Reason
Miles never goes out, does he?
Subject who/that which/that

Object who/whom/that which/that where when why

Quantifiers
Possessive whose whose

Sources:
• https://www.examenglish.com/grammar

• https://www.ef.com/english-resources

• https://www.nurdiono.com
• https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com

• Focus on Grammar 5, third Edition