Grammar reference and practice 8

8.1 Past perfect 2 Complete the questions with the past perfect form of
the verbs in brackets.
Affirmative and negative
The door was open. someone
I (be) there before me?
You you (read) the book
had
He / She / It passed the test. before you saw the film?
hadn’t (= had not)
We I saw you at about three o’clock. the
They exam already (finish) by then?
Questions and short answers 4 Why did Ben come back to the house?
he (forget) something?
I
5 Joe and Chloe left the cinema early.
you
Yes, I had. they (see) the film before?
Had he / she / it passed the test?
No, I hadn’t. 6 Why was everyone outside the restaurant?
we
it (close) early?
they
7 Mary wasn’t at home. Where she
We form the past perfect with had / hadn’t + past participle. (go)?
Remember that the past participle is often the same as the
past simple form. However, many past participles have an 3 Choose the correct words.
irregular form. We were / had been there for ten minutes when the
police arrived.
Use The reason you nearly fainted was because you
We use the past perfect to talk about something that didn’t eat / hadn’t eaten anything.
happened before something else in the past. Where did Ryan go / had Ryan gone on holiday last
Marie had left the office when I called her. (Marie left the summer?
office, and then I called her.) 4 I didn’t go to the theatre that evening because
We can also use the past perfect to explain a situation or I’d already seen / I already saw the play.
give a reason. 5 In 1950, there were / had been two ice rinks in this
I was nervous because I hadn’t driven on the motorway before. town.
We can use the past perfect together with the past simple 6 We didn’t have / hadn’t had much money when we
to describe two past actions, introduced by when or after. were young, but we enjoyed ourselves.
The verb in the past perfect always refers to the action that 7 Tina wasn’t / hadn’t been very well last night.
happened first. 8 She joined the beginners’ group even though she
They took away his medal after he had won it. (He won the had played / played before.
medal, and then they took it away.)
When Colin arrived, everyone had gone home. (Everyone 4 Write one sentence that links the sentence pairs with
went home, and then Colin arrived.) because. Use the past perfect form once in each new
sentence.
1 Write the second sentence of each pair. Use the past
We couldn’t get in. Keira locked the door.
perfect form of the verb given.
We arrived too late. The train / just / leave the station. Everyone congratulated Mark. He did so well.

It was a waste of money. Jo and Ann / buy / the same I thought Helen would win the prize. She wrote a
present for Ben. brilliant essay.

Sam was disappointed. He / not win / the competition. 4 Steve didn’t have any money. He bought a new pair of
running shoes.
4 I had to accept the truth. The campaign / not be /
successful. 5 The two athletes left the competition. They cheated.

5 Chloe thanked me. I / congratulate / her on winning the 6 I was very happy. I made some progress on my project.
race.
7 The telephone wasn’t working. You didn’t pay the bill.
6 Everyone was very relieved to arrive. The journey /
take / a long time.

98 Grammar reference and practice 8

8.2 used to 1 Write statements and questions with the correct form
of used to.
Affirmative and negative
We / win / every game of cricket. ✘
I
You
used to
He / She / It swim every day. My grandparents / vote / in every local election. ✔
didn’t use to
We
They
Questions and short answers The stadium / have / two towers on the roof. ?
I
you
use to swim Yes, I did. 4 Dan / be / very confident about his sporting abilities. ✘
Did he / she / it
every day? No, I didn’t.
we
they
5 You / be / a very patient person. ?
Use
We use used to + infinitive to talk about:
past habits. 6 Ian / spend / every evening at the gym. ✔
When I was young, I used to play football with my friends
every afternoon.
We used to go sailing in summer, but now we prefer 7 Laura’s dad / be / a civil servant. ?
mountain biking.
What kind of books did you use to read as a child?
past states or situations. 8 Lee / compete / against much bigger boys in races. ✔
Jen used to have very long hair, but she had it cut short
last year.
We used to live in Chester, but we moved to Newcastle 9 How often / Stan and George / play basketball. ?
when I was 12.
Anna didn’t use to like tea, but now she drinks tea with milk
all the time. 0 They / get up / early in the morning. ✘
We don’t use used to for single actions. Compare the
following sentences:
We used to go to the theatre a lot when we lived in London.
NOT We used to go to the theatre on my tenth birthday.
2 Complete the sentences with the verbs below. Use
used to if possible. If not, use the past simple form of
Richard used to be very handsome when he was young.
the verb.
NOT Richard used to be very handsome at the party last night.
We can often use the past simple instead of used to, but be build buy dream follow own want
we prefer used to when we want to emphasize that the win
situation today is different.
When Tom was a teenager, he listened to rock music. (He may My parents a shop. It was very
or may not listen to rock music now.) successful.
When Tom was a teenager, he used to listen to rock music. (He James a medal. He was very proud
doesn’t listen to rock music anymore.) of it.
Note that used to doesn’t have a present tense form. To They the new school very quickly.
talk about present habits and situations, we always use the 4 I of this moment, and now it’s
present simple, NOT use to. finally arrived.
5 We the campaign from start to
finish.
6 Sarah her cousin a beautiful
present when she got married.
7 Back in the 1960s, a lot of students
to change the world.
8 That’s where the post office , over
there on the corner.

Grammar reference and practice 8 99