Verb Tenses - Past Perfect

The Past Perfect tense is used to talk about something that had happened before something else took place:

I had eaten lunch before they arrived.
Susan had already finished the project when he asked for help.

Something that had happened as a precondition to something else:

I had prepared for the exams and was ready to do well.
Tom had lost twenty pounds and could begin anew.

To express imagined conditions:

If I had known that, I would have acted differently.
She would have come to the party if she had been invited.

Desire about the past:

I wish you had told me.
She wishes she had known about his problems.

Common time expressions used with the past perfect:
already
just
before
when

Structure:

Positive
Subject + had + past participle

I, You, He, She, We, They had finished before I arrived.

Negative
Subject + had + not (hadn't) + past participle

I, You, He, She, We, They hadn't eaten before he finished the job.

Questions
Question word + had + subject + past participle

What -> had he, she, you, we, they thought before I asked the question?

Past participles of Irregular Verbs have various forms and each verb needs to be learned.

For a list of Irregular Verbs, refer to http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/irregular-verbs/

There are two types of questions in this assessment.

Follow the appropriate instructions for each question type:

1) Conjugate the verb in parentheses in the past perfect tense. In the case of questions, use the indicated subject as well.

2) Choose the correct time or quantity expression used with the past perfect tense.

Before submitting the test, check the following:

Punctuation and capitalization
Spelling
Spaces (don't add any unnecessary spaces)

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Kendall Park, NJ

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