Teaching The Past Perfect Simple – An Off2Class ESL Lesson Plan For Teachers

This lesson plan is an introductory lesson plan to the past perfect tense. In it, teachers will find clear explanations and students will be given plenty of opportunities to practice. Teachers can expect to assign gap-fill, sentence matching and sentence starter exercises. Also, the lesson begins with simple explanations of the tense and gets progressively more challenging, allowing students to test their knowledge of new concepts.

Before teaching the past perfect tense, make sure your students are comfortable with past participles. Past participles can be a real challenge for ESL students, so consider reviewing them. With this, learning the past perfect doesn’t have to be scary, as long as students have the correct tools in their kit to do so.

This lesson plan is an introductory lesson plan to the past perfect tense. In it, teachers will find clear explanations and students will be given plenty of opportunities to practice. Teachers can expect to assign gap-fill, sentence matching and sentence starter exercises. Also, the lesson begins with simple explanations of the tense and gets progressively more challenging, allowing students to test their knowledge of new concepts.

If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

Transcript

1. VS6.1 – Past perfect simple Off2Class Lesson Plan Lesson 1/2 ESL Lesson Plan © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
2. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc. Thank you for downloading your FREE Off2Class lesson plan! This teacher-led lesson plan is designed using the communicative approach - perfect for teaching students online or in any screen-enabled classroom. To access the Teacher Notes and Answer Key, or to assign homework, click here to set up your FREE Off2class account. Don’t forget to join the discussion on Facebook to get access to other great tools for online ESL instruction.
3. What happened in these pictures? 9pm 10:30pm 11pm now © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
4. When Dean arrived at the party, Sonia had gone home. 9pm 10:30pm 11pm Sonia arrived at the party at 9pm. She went home at 10:30pm. Dean arrived at 11pm. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
5. Look at the example below Last night we went to the cinema. The film started at 7pm. We arrived at 7:15pm. When we arrived at the cinema, the film had started. 7 pm 7:15 pm now 1 2 © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
6. The past perfect simple We went on a holiday. We discovered that someone had broken into our house. Often we talk about things that happened in the past: now Someone broke into our house. We arrived home. 1 2 3 4 © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
7. One event happened before another event Here, we use the past perfect to show that the first event finished before the second event happened. We discovered that someone had broken into our house. now Someone broke into our house. We arrived home. 1 2 3 © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
8. Read carefully… Look at the three events. All three events happened in the past. Which event happened first? Second? Third? On Thursday, I left home at 7pm. I arrived at the airport at 8pm. My plane left at 7:30pm! A B C © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
9. Talking about events in the past I left home at 7pm. now My plane left at 7:30pm. I arrived at the airport at 8pm. 1 2 3 When I arrived at the airport, my plane had left. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
10. Look at these examples Taylor arrived at the restaurant early. now She ordered a pizza. I arrived late. When I arrived at the restaurant, Taylor had ordered a pizza. now It stopped raining. We played outside. It had stopped raining so we played outside. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
11. Make it clear! now Taylor ordered a pizza. I arrived at the restaurant. We use the past perfect to make the meaning clear. now Taylor ordered a pizza. I arrived at the restaurant. When I arrived at the restaurant, Taylor had ordered a pizza. When I arrived at the restaurant, Taylor ordered a pizza. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
12. The past perfect simple subject had verb 3 I you he she it we they had slept spoken worked gone snowed hidden looked subject had verb 3 © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
13. 1. The student was very happy because he _____ his college entrance exam. 2. I arrived late at the office yesterday and the meeting _____. 3. Charles’ mother was not happy because he _____ computer games all weekend. 4. Desmond was not nervous because he _____ many times. Use had + verb3 below pass fly start play © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
14. 5. Robert __________ to the supermarket, so when his friends knocked on the door, no-one answered. 6. Derek said that he _________ the report on his boss’s desk, but his boss didn’t believe him. 7. Joan __________ all over the world, but this was her first visit to South America. 8. Alanna __________ excited about the party all week, so she was very disappointed when it was cancelled. Use the past perfect simple below travel be put go © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
15. 9. You visited your grandparents but they were not home. (they / go / out) Make sentences 10. Samuel came late to the office. (the meeting / start) © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
16. 11. You went to New York for the first time in 15 years. (it / change / a lot) Make sentences 12. Alice didn’t come to the cinema with us last night. (she / organise / something else) © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
17. 13.John was happy because he had won the tennis match. Which event happened first? Which happened second? 14.I checked the back door but someone had already locked it. i ii John won the tennis match. He was happy. i ii __________. __________. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
18. 15.Ella had broken her arm so she was in the hospital for a week. Which event happened first? Which happened second? 16.He went home when he had completed all his work. i ii __________. __________. i ii __________. __________. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
19. 17.Elena and Christina arrived at the theatre but the theater had cancelled the play. Which event happened first? Which happened second? 18.I looked for you everywhere but you had left the office. i ii __________. __________. i ii __________. __________. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
20. 19.Someone had called me but I didn’t answer the phone. Which event happened first? Which happened second? 20.Melis had knocked on the door but no-one answered. i ii __________. __________. i ii __________. __________. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
21. Use the past perfect Read each situation. Which happened first? Link the events with because and the past perfect simple. 21.Somebody broke into our house. We called the police. We called the police because somebody had broken into our house. 22.I was in a car accident. I stayed in the hospital. 23.I failed my entrance exam. I could not go to university. 24.Henry didn’t do his homework. Henry’s mom was really angry. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
22. Use the past perfect Read each situation. Which happened first? Link the events with because and the past perfect simple. 25.It was good to see my friend yesterday. I did not see her for five years. 26. A car broke down on the highway. I stopped to help. 27. We arrived late at the station. We got stuck in traffic. 28.James couldn’t get into his house. He left his house keys at the office. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
23. Make logical sentences James was excited about his trip… Helen didn’t play tennis well… Ben was hungry all day… The house was dirty… …because she had never played before. …because they hadn’t cleaned it in weeks. …because she hadn’t finished reading the book. …because he hadn’t eaten anything. Felicia couldn’t write her book report… …because he hadn’t been to Mexico before. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
24. The past perfect simple (negative form) subject hadn’t verb 3 I you he she it we they hadn’t known lived stopped done rained eaten spent subject hadn’t verb 3 © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
25. Use the past perfect simple negative 29. Terry didn’t pass his final exam because ____ at all. he / study 30. ____ John in ten years so at first I didn’t recognise him when I saw him in the street. I / see 31. The flowers and plants were dead because ____ the garden in a long time. Sally / water 32. ____ in months so the ground was very dry. it / rain © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
26. Which is correct? 33.The man sitting next to me was quite nervous because he had flown/hadn’t flown before. 34.I was angry with you because you had bothered/hadn’t bothered to call me! 35. Graham received a prize from his school because he had come/hasn’t come top of his class. 36.She had decided/hadn’t decided what to buy for her sister’s birthday and now she still doesn’t have a present. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
27. Events on a timeline… before 11 am now 11 am I wasn’t hungry at 11am because I had already eaten. © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
28. Can you make a sentence? David left home. now I knocked on David’s door but he did not answer it. Jon did not finish his book. now Jon could not complete his book report for school. A B © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
29. Can you make a sentence? Someone called my name. now I turned around. I forgot to bring the keys to the office. now I couldn’t open the office door. A B © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.
30. Can you make a sentence? It rained all afternoon. now The children couldn’t play outside. Riley had a fight with her best friend. now Riley felt sad. A B © 2014-2021 Global Online Language Services Inc.