• 1 TRY OUT LANGUAGE

• 2 LEARN GRAMMAR

• 3 APPLY ON YOUR OWN

Use Verbs in the Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense of a verb shows that one action in the past happened before another past action.

Action Time Line

• • Use the past tense of a verb to tell about an action that was completed in the past.

  EXAMPLE

  Yesterday, the waiter served fish.

• • If you want to show that one past action happened before another, use the past perfect tense for the action that happened first.

  EXAMPLE

  The waiter had read the specials before he served the fish.

• • To form the past perfect tense, use had plus the past participle of the main verb.

  EXAMPLES	The waiter had served the salad before he served the main dish.
  	The waiter had read the specials before he took the order.

Practice Together

Change the verb in the box to the past perfect tense. Say it. Then say the sentence and add the past perfect tense verb.

• 1. read Before he took the order, the waiter _______ the specials.

• 2. order The people _______ their salads first.

• 3. hear After they _______ the specials, the diners decided what to order.

The waiters had set the tables before the diners arrived.

Try It!

Change the verb in the box to the past perfect tense. Write the past perfect tense verb on a card. Then say the sentence and add the past perfect tense verb.

• 4. set Before we arrived, the waiters _______ the tables.

• 5. see The waiters placed extra napkins on the table because they _______ the soup bowls were full.

• 6. agree Before dinner was over, the diners _______ that the restaurant was excellent.