Here are examples of past perfect simple affirmative: Instead, the Ryans had decided to take a more old-fashioned route. context I must say I‘d hoped for better. listen In the English Grammar Profile, B1 points 34 in the category of PAST are defined as: past perfect simple: a time before another time in the past. and B1 point 38 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect […]
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In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 85 in the category of PAST is defined as: invert the subject and affirmative auxiliary verb to talk about imagined situations in the past, often with regret, in formal contexts *although a following modal verb ‘could’ or ‘would’ is not mentioned in the description above, they do follow in the
past perfect simple (inversion) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 84 in the category of PAST: present perfect simple with the full negative forms with a wide range of verbs, often in formal contexts. An iWeb search for: _N have|has not _VVN 1 POLICE HAVE NOT RELEASED 590 2 GOD HAS NOT GIVEN 328 3 CANCER HAS NOT SPREAD
present perfect simple negative (wide range of verbs) Read More »
C1 MODALITY
‘might or may + not have’ + ‘-ed’ to talk about possibility with a past reference
English Grammar Profile
might | may + not have + PAST PARTICIPLE (past possibility) Read More »
C1 point 112 in CLAUSES/conditional is defined as: Conditional subordinate clauses with ‘if’ + the past perfect simple and modal verb + ‘have’ + ‘-ed’ in the main clause, to talk about imagined situations in the past, often with regret. *Note the same definition with ‘would‘ is listed at B1! Basically, this means that for
if + PAST PERFECT + MODAL VERBS Read More »
Example: “Will you have achieved your goals by the end of the year?” The future perfect simple is formed by using the auxiliary verb “will” followed by the subject, then “have” and the past participle of the main verb. In this case, the main verb is “achieved,” which is the past participle form of “achieve.”
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C2 FOCUS | FORMAL | happened immediately before something else
HARDLY HAD + inversion Read More »
Point 79 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect simple, IMAGINED PAST, the affirmative form after ‘if only’, and the affirmative and negative forms after ‘wish’ to talk about regret. This is a rare match of grammar levels with Pearons’ GSE 62 B2: If only I’d worked harder. I wish we’d bought that house. if only * _vhd _vvn 1
IF ONLY | WISH + past perfect simple Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 78 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous in relative clauses to give background information. For example: I was scrolling on social media, and I saw a friend who had been sharing positive news stories. TED A search in iWeb corpus for: who|that|which had been _vvg gives us the most common continuous verbs found in past perfect continuous relative
past perfect continuous in a relative clause Read More »
You can give background information in a past perfect simple relative clause. For example:
The people WHO ATTENDED the lecture knew about the test.
The teachers WHO HAD DEVELOPED the test explained what to study the night before.
past perfect simple in relative clauses Read More »
B2 English Grammar Profile point 76 in the category of PAST is: past perfect continuous WITH ADVERBS in the normal mid position For example: I had just been doing some reading. listen An iWeb search for: had _rr been _vvg 1 HAD ALREADY BEEN WORKING 359 2 HAD ALREADY BEEN USING 210 3 HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN USING 122 4 HAD ALSO
past perfect continuous + adverb ‘had already been doing’ Read More »
Point 75 in the category of PAST is defined as: Past perfect simple to report statements, where the main verb in the reporting clause is in the past simple. *This point overlaps B1. So we might surmise that ‘said’ and ‘told’ are B1 and other reporting verbs might be B2 within this structure. A search
past perfect simple (report of statements) Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 74 in the category of PAST is defined as: leave out the subject before the past perfect simple where it is understood from the previous clause. _c _had _vvn *However the common that clauses do not really locate ellipsis. 1 THAT HAD COME 3547 2 THAT HAD HAPPENED
past perfect simple (ellipsis) Read More »
The landscape can get muddy when it has been raining.
present perfect continuous Read More »
“I had been working on that project for months, so I was very disappointed when it was cancelled.” “She had been crying for hours, so her eyes were red and swollen.” “We had been waiting for the bus for so long that we were starting to get cold.” At B2, in the English Grammar Profile,
past perfect continuous + RESULT Read More »
‘never + inversion‘ is B2 with or without past perfect. The following examples use present perfect simple + inversion: Never before has man possessed so much power. listen Never before have so many people risen so far so fast, on so many different dimensions. listen Here’s an example with past perfect inversion without ‘before’: Never had I felt such an incomprehensible emptiness within myself. listen In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 68 in PAST is defined as: past perfect
NEVER BEFORE + perfect inversion Read More »
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 67 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous after a time conjunction to give background information. For example: This was just a few months after Ebola had been terrifying the world. listen 1 AFTER IT HAD BEEN SITTING 46 WOAI She and her stepfather restored the bike themselves after it had
(time conjunction) + past perfect continuous Read More »
Point 66 in the category of PAST is past perfect simple used for a CHANGE OF SITUATION. The EGP uses HAD + ‘planned’ and ‘wanted’ + ‘but’ in their examples. Since this is a difficult structure to find in corpora due to the length of sentences, we have looked directly in Google news for examples:
past perfect simple (change of situation) Read More »
Here is an example of a past perfect simple question: What had I done to deserve it? TED Past perfect simple questions are formed by putting had before the subject and the past participle of the verb. They are used to ask about an action or event that happened before another past action or event, or before a specific time in the
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In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 64 in the category of PAST is: present perfect continuous NEGATIVE It basically means that something did not happen between an unspecified time before now and now and that has a result in the present. This situation might still continue now. We look for examples with a search
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