Past Perfect

[Fiona766]

Bonjour Monsieur,J'ai 3 exercices à faire pour mentraîner. J'ai beaucoup de mal avec les temps et notamment le past perfect, il ne me vient pas naturellement . Voici les exercices et merci d'avance. Fiona.

A- Grammar- complete with the correct past tense (preterite/preterite ing/Past perfect)

It (be).was....a wild night. The wind (howl: mugir).was howling.....outside and the rain (beat).was beating.......against the windows. Suddenly, I (hear).heard...... the scream of a terrified woman. I (know).knew.......it (be).was.. my sister.

As I (open)was opening....my door, I (see).saw....her appear, her face blanched with terror. At first I (think)..thought....she (recognize)had recognized.....me, but as I (reach)..was reaching......for her, she (tell)..told.....to stay put. Almost immediately, while she (try)..was trying.......to peer out of the window, we (hear).heard......a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal (fall)..had fallen........

1. Make one sentence each time using when. Put one of the verbs into the past perfect. For example:

The meeting started at 12 o'clock. Jeff arrived at 12.05

When Jeff arrived the meeting had started.

a- Jim fed the lions. Then he went home

When jeff went home he had fed the lions.

b-Jeff got to the departure lounge at 8.30. The plane took off at 8.27

When Jeff got the departure lounge, the plane had taken off.

c- Sergeant Dixon made a note of the address. Then he jumped into his car and drove off. (s'éloigna)

When Sergeant Dixon jumped into his car and drove off, he had made a note of the adress

d-The lesson started at 9. Pat arrived at 9.10

When Pat arrived, the lesson had started

e-The thief ran away. Two minutes later Dixon reached the supermarket

When the thief ran away, two minutes later Dixon had reached the supermarket

f-The police searched the building. Then they left.

When the police searched the building, they had left

G-The guard checked all the doors. Then he had a cup of tea

When the guard had a cup of tea, he had checked all the doors.

2- Put the verbs in brackets into the simple past or the past perfect

a- After she (speak)had spoken to the bank manager, Sally (decide)decided to open a savings account

b- When I (get to)got to the cinema, the others (go)had gone inside so I (go in)went on my own

c- When we (see)saw Pat, she (hear)had heard about the accident on the radio. She (be)was very upset.

d- I (not know)didn't know what to do, when Alison (start)had started to cry

e- I (not realise)didn't realise that they (move)had moved. I (think)thought they still (live)lived in Bristol

f- By the end of the day, we (paper)had papered all the walls in the dining-room

g- Bill (feel)felt ill on Monday morning because he (eat)had eaten too much the night before

C Imagine what had happened before:

There she was, all alone in the middle of the forest, at 5 a.m. Just before.she had lost in the forest and had fallen asleep.A criminal had kidnapped..her and left her in the middle of the forest................

There he was, sitting on a bench in a park, with a suitcase. Just before that.a spy had given him the suitcase with all the clues of the crime. He had taken a taxi which hadn't wanted to take him to the airport............

[Jean B]

Bonjour, Fiona.

A- Grammar- complete with the correct past tense (preterite/preterite ing/Past perfect)

It (be).was....a wild night. The wind (howl: mugir).was howling.....outside and the rain (beat).was beating.......against the windows. Suddenly, I (hear).heard...... the scream of a terrified woman. I (know).knew.......it (be).was.. my sister.

As I (open)was opening....my door, I (see).saw....her appear, her face blanched with terror. At first I (think)..thought....she (recognize)had recognized.....me, but as I (reach)..was reaching......for her, she (tell)..told.....to stay put. Almost immediately, while she (try)..was trying.......to peer out of the window, we (hear).heard......a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal (fall)..had fallen........

It's perfect.

1. Make one sentence each time using when. Put one of the verbs into the past perfect. For example:

The meeting started at 12 o'clock. Jeff arrived at 12.05

When Jeff arrived the meeting had started. C'est correct mais la logique des temps voudrait que l'ordre des 2 propositions soit inversé. =>>The meeting had started when Jeff arrived. En effet dans le passé, le past perfect sert à décrire une action antérieure à une autre, exactement comme notre plus-que-parfait par rapport au passé simple.

a- Jim fed the lions. Then he went home

When Jim went home when he had fed the lions. Sois logique ! Il est rentré chez lui après avoir/quand il eut/ nourri les lions.

b-Jeff got to the departure lounge at 8.30. The plane took off at 8.27

When Jeff got to the departure lounge, the plane had taken off. OK mais l'avion avait décollé quand il est entré dans la salle des départs.

c- Sergeant Dixon made a note of the address. Then he jumped into his car and drove off. (s'éloigna)

When Sergeant Dixon jumped into his car and drove off, he had made a note of the adress OK, idem ci-dessus

d-The lesson started at 9. Pat arrived at 9.10

When Pat arrived, the lesson had started OK et idem

e-The thief ran away. Two minutes later Dixon reached the supermarket

When the thief ran away, two minutes later Dixon had reached the supermarket C'est illogique. =>> The thief had run away when Dixon reached the supermarket two minutes later.

f-The police searched the building. Then they left.

When the police searched the building, they had left. OK mais, comme écrit plus haut, les propositions plutôt dans l'ordre inverse. Ils étaient partis avant que la police fouille le bâtiment.

G-The guard checked all the doors. Then he had a cup of tea

When The guard had a cup of tea when he had checked all the doors.

NB : Même si c'est correct, même si ça se dit et s'écrit couramment, j'ai du mal à admettre qu'on puisse commencer une phrase par une conjonction de coordination. C'est probablement dû à l'enseignement que j'ai reçu jadis à l'école primaire de mon village mais je n'ai jamais eu à m'en plaindre.

2- Put the verbs in brackets into the simple past or the past perfect

a- After she (speak)had spoken to the bank manager, Sally (decide)decided to open a savings account

b- When I (get to)got to the cinema, the others (go)had gone inside so I (go in)went on my own

c- When we (see)saw Pat, she (hear)had heard about the accident on the radio. She (be)was very upset.

d- I (not know)didn't know what to do, when Alison (start)had started to cry

e- I (not realise)didn't realise that they (move)had moved. I (think)thought they still (live)lived in Bristol

f- By the end of the day, we (paper)had papered all the walls in the dining-room

g- Bill (feel)felt ill on Monday morning because he (eat)had eaten too much the night before

It's perfect once again!

C Imagine what had happened before:

There she was, all alone in the middle of the forest, at 5 a.m. Just before.she had lost her way in the forest and had fallen asleep. A criminal had kidnapped her and left her in the middle of the forest................

There he was, sitting on a bench in a park, with a suitcase. Just before that.a spy had given him the suitcase with all the clues of the crime. He had taken a taxi which hadn't wanted to drive/take him to the airport............

It's OK.

Malgré tes doutes, je trouve que tu t'en sors très honorablement.

[Fiona766]

Bonsoir Monsieur et merci de vos corrections. Je doute beaucoup de moi, c'est vrai. Tous ces temps me font tourner la tête. Bonne soirée Fiona.