Past perfect

[luke]

This is the practice thread for the past perfect tense. Include your sentence as a reply to this thread and I'll check it.

The past perfect tense is of the form subject + had + past participle
It is used in the following ways;

Actions occurring before other actions in the past – She shouted at me because I hadn’t finished unit 6
Completely finished actions – When I had completed unit 6, I took a holiday

[Learneng]

I had finished my post before I attended the meeting.
I had been to Singapore once before.
I had posted the message at 6 but before that I drank my morning tea.
He had cut the tree and cleaned the place before leaving.
My dog wasn't able to understand the commend because we never taught him before.
 

[luke]

Hi Learneng,

You are doing very well, and you'll soon have every tense covered.

I had finished my post before I attended the meeting. (also: I attended the meeting after I had finished my post)
I had been to Singapore once before.
I had posted the message at 6 but before that I had drank my morning tea (actions occurring before the other actions in the past)
He had cut the tree and cleaned the place before leaving.
My dog wasn't able to understand the command because we had never taught him before.

[shirani]

Luke
I have a doubt about this sentence which you had written above.

"I posted the message at 6 but before that I had drank my morning tea (actions occurring before the other actions in the past)"


Why we can't say

I had drunken my morning tea

according to the
 subject + had + past participle

Please correct me.

[luke]

Hi Shirani,

Good question! Well, it is to do with the work drunken. The past participle of drink is drunk, not drank as I stated (it is drank with the past simple tense).

So it should be: "I posted the message at 6 but before that I had drunk my morning tea"

It's not drunken because that refers to being intoxicated, i.e. drinking too much beer!

[shirani]

Yes.
oh it was really silly mistake.
Drink     Drank    Drunk