Let’s look at the Past Perfect tense by looking at a short article about The Stone Roses, who were one of the biggest bands in England in the 80s/90s.
They were part of the famous Manchester scene. Their first album was released in the late 1980s. Their second album only came out in 1994 and soon after they broke up in 1996. The band had been best friends before they split up. However, afterwards they didn’t speak to each other.
The guitarist John Squire had always said that he did not want to reform the band and had quit music and become a painter. Ian Brown, the singer, had continued his career. The bassist Mani had joined another band called Primal Scream but the drummer hadn’t played music for years.
Fans of the band are extremely happen that they have reunited and are now playing gigs again. They may even be releasing a new album in 2013.
Have a look at what they were like before:
The Past Perfect
This text talks about the break up which is a past event but it also talks about what happened BEFORE the band split up. To do this PAST PAST TIME it uses the PAST PERFECT tense.
The band had been best friends before they split up.
Here, the past time is the time when they split up and it tells you that before that time they were best friends.
We make the PAST PERFECT like we make the PRESENT PERFECT but with HAD. So, you have:
GRAMMAR: Subject + had + Past Participle
Here are some more examples from the text:
- The guitarist John Squire had always said that he did not want to reform the band and had quit music.
- Ian Brown, the singer, had continued his career.
- Mani had joined another band called Primal Scream
- the drummer hadn’t played music for years.
You can use the PAST PERFECT to talk about a time before another or an event before another.
Questions
1)What had you studied before you learned English?
2)Before the London 2012 Games, which cities had hosted the Olympics?
