Unit

15 Past perfect (I had done)

A Study this example situation:

Bye! Sarah and Paul went to the same party last week, but they
10.30 didn’t see each other. Paul lef the party at 10.30 and Sarah
arrived at 11 o’clock.
So when Sarah arrived at the party, Paul wasn’t there.
PAUL
He had gone home.
had gone is the past perfect:
11.00 Hi!
gone
I/we/they/you (= I’d etc.)
had seen
he/she/it (= he’d etc.)
finished etc.
SARAH

The past perfect (simple) is had + past participle (gone/seen/finished etc.).

Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past:
Sarah arrived at the party.
This is the starting point of the story. Then, if we want to talk about things that happened before this time,
we use the past perfect (had …):
When Sarah arrived at the party, Paul had already gone home.
Some more examples:
When we got home last night, we found that somebody had broken into the flat.
Karen didn’t come to the cinema with us. She’d already seen the movie.
At first I thought I’d done the right thing, but I soon realised that I’d made a big mistake.
The people sitting next to me on the plane were nervous. They hadn’t flown before.
or They’d never flown before.

B Compare present perfect (have seen etc.) and past perfect (had seen etc.):

Present perfect Past perfect

have seen had seen

past now past now

Who is that woman? I’ve seen her before, I wasn’t sure who she was. I’d seen her
but I can’t remember where. before, but I couldn’t remember where.
We aren’t hungry. We’ve just had lunch. We weren’t hungry. We’d just had lunch.
The house is dirty. They haven’t cleaned The house was dirty. They hadn’t
it for weeks. cleaned it for weeks.

C Compare past simple (lef, was etc.) and past perfect (had lef, had been etc.):

Past simple Past perfect

A: Was Tom there when you arrived? A: Was Tom there when you arrived?
B: Yes, but he lef soon aferwards. B: No, he’d already lef.
Kate wasn’t at home when I phoned. Kate had just got home when I phoned.
She was at her mother’s house. She’d been at her mother’s house.

30 Past perfect continuous ➜ Unit 16 Irregular verbs (gone/seen etc.) ➜ Appendix 1

 Unit
Exercises 15
15.1 Read the situations and write sentences using the words in brackets.
1 There was a picture lying on the floor.
(It / fall / o the wall) It had fallen off the wall.
2 The people sitting next to you on the plane were nervous. It was their first flight.
(They / not / fly / before) They hadn’t flown before.
3 You went back to your home town recently afer many years. It wasn’t the same as before.
(It / change / a lot) It
4 Somebody sang a song. You didn’t know it.
(I / not / hear / it / before) I
5 I invited Rachel to the party, but she couldn’t come.
(She / arrange / to do something else)
6 You went to the cinema last night. You got to the cinema late.
(The film / already / start)
7 Last year we went to Mexico. It was our first time there.
(We / not / be / there / before) We
8 I met Daniel last week. It was good to see him again afer such a long time.
(I / not / see / him for five years)
9 I o ered my friends something to eat, but they weren’t hungry.
(They / just / have / lunch)
10 Sam played tennis yesterday. He wasn’t very good at it because it was his first game ever.
(He / never / play / before)

15.2 Use the sentences on the lef to complete the paragraphs on the right. These sentences are in the
order in which they happened – so (a) happened before (b), (b) before (c) etc. But your paragraph
begins with the underlined sentence, so sometimes you need the past perfect.
1 (a) Somebody broke into the o ice during ⎫ We arrived at work in the morning and found
the night. ⎪ that somebody had broken into the o ice
⎬ we called the police.
(b) We arrived at work in the morning. ⎪ during the night. So
(c) We called the police. ⎭
2 (a) Laura went out this morning. ⎫ I went to Laura’s house this morning and rang
⎪
(b) I rang her doorbell. ⎬ her doorbell, but no answer.
⎪
(c) There was no answer. ⎭ out.
3 (a) Joe came back from holiday a few ⎫ I met Joe a few days ago. just
days ago. ⎪ holiday.
⎬
(b) I met him the same day. ⎪ very well.
(c) He looked very well. ⎭
4 (a) James sent Amy lots of emails. ⎫ Yesterday James
(b) She never replied to them. ⎪ from Amy. surprised.
⎬
(c) Yesterday he got a phone call from her. ⎪ lots of emails,
(d) He was surprised. ⎭ but .

15.3 Put the verb into the correct form, past perfect (I had done) or past simple (I did).
1 Paul wasn’t at the party when I arrived. He’d gone (He / go) home.
2 I felt very tired when I got home, so (I / go) straight to bed.
3 The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody (go) to bed.
4 Mark travels a lot. When I first met him, (he / already / travel)
round the world.
5 Sorry I’m late. The car (break) down on my way here.
6 We were driving along the road when (we / see) a car which
(break) down, so (we / stop) to help.

➜ Additional exercises 5–8 (pages 304–07) 31

Unit
18 used to (do)
A Study this example situation:

a few years ago Nicola doesn’t travel much these days.

She prefers to stay at home.
But she used to travel a lot.
She used to go away two or three times a year.
She used to travel a lot = she travelled ofen in the past, but
she doesn’t do this any more.

she used to travel she doesn’t

travel
these days past now

B I used to do something = I did it ofen in the past, but not any more:
I used to play tennis a lot, but I don’t play very much now.
David used to spend a lot of money on clothes. These days he can’t a ord it.
‘Do you go to the cinema much?’ ‘Not now, but I used to.’ (= I used to go)
We also use used to … for things that were true, but are not true any more:
This building is now a furniture shop. It used to be a cinema.
I used to think Mark was unfriendly, but now I realise he’s a very nice person.
I’ve started drinking co ee recently. I never used to like it before.
Lisa used to have very long hair when she was a child.

C ‘I used to do something’ is past. There is no present. You cannot say ‘I use to do’.
To talk about the present, we use the present simple (I do).
Compare:
past he used to play we used to live there used to be
present he plays we live there is
We used to live in a small village, but now we live in a city.
There used to be four cinemas in the town. Now there is only one.

D The normal question form is did (you) use to … ? :

Did you use to eat a lot of sweets when you were a child? (= did you do this ofen?)
The negative form is didn’t use to … (used not to … is also possible):
I didn’t use to like him. (or I used not to like him.)

E Compare I used to do and I was doing:

I used to watch TV a lot. (= I watched TV ofen in the past, but I don’t do this any more)
I was watching TV when Rob called. (= I was in the middle of watching TV)

F Do not confuse I used to do and I am used to doing (see Unit 61). The structures and meanings
are di erent:
I used to live alone. (= I lived alone in the past, but I no longer live alone.)
I am used to living alone. (= I live alone, and it’s not a problem for me because I’ve lived
alone for some time.)

Past continuous (I was doing) ➜ Unit 6 would (= used to) ➜ Unit 36

36 be/get used to (doing something) ➜ Unit 61
 Unit
Exercises 18
18.1 Complete the sentences with used to + a suitable verb.
1 Nicola used to travel a lot, but she doesn’t go away much these days.
2 Sophie a motorbike, but last year she sold it and bought a car.
3 Our friends moved to Spain a few years ago. They in Paris.
4 Jackie my best friend, but we aren’t friends any more.
5 I rarely eat ice cream now, but I it when I was a child.
6 It only takes me about 40 minutes to get to work now that the new road is open.
It more than an hour.
7 There a hotel near the airport, but it closed a long time ago.
8 I in a factory. It wasn’t my favourite job.

18.2 Complete the sentences. Choose from the box.

did
1 Lisa used to have very long hair when she was a child.
didn’t
2 We to watch TV a lot, but we don’t have a TV any more.
to
3 Lisa works in a shop now. She a receptionist in a hotel.
use
4 What games you use to play when you were a child?
used
5 I like big cities, but now I prefer the countryside.
used to
6 In your last job, how many hours a day did you to work?
used to be
7 I don’t travel very much these days, but I used .
used to have
8 I used to to run ten kilometres, but I can’t run that far now.
be able
9 These days I eat more than before. I use to eat as much.

18.3 Compare what Karen said ten years ago and what she says today:
I haven’t played
TEN YEARS AGO I play the TODAY the piano for a
piano. long time.
I eat lots of
I travel a lot. cheese now.
I don’t go away
I never much these
I’m very My dog died days.
drink tea. two years ago.
lazy.

I work very Tea’s great!

I don’t like
hard these days. I like it now.
cheese. I have a dog.
Now write about how Karen has changed. Use used to / didn’t use to / never used to in the
first part of your sentence.
1 She used to travel a lot, but she doesn’t go away much these days.
2 She used but
3 but
4 but
5 but
6 but

18.4 Write sentences about yourself. Begin I used to … (I used to be/work/like/play etc.)
1 I used to live in a small village, but now I live in a city.
2 I used to play tennis a lot, but I don’t play any more.
3 I used , but
4 I
5
Now begin with I didn’t use to … .
6 I didn’t use to read a lot, but I do now.
7 I didn’t
8

➜ Additional exercise 9 (page 307) 37