How to Teach and Use The Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive Tenses

In a previous "how to", I wrote how to teach the present perfect and present perfect progressive tenses (http://www.ehow.com/how_6045030_teach-present-perfect-progressive-tense.html). This article explains how to teach the past perfect and past perfect progressive tenses. Of the three perfect tenses, I believe these are the easiest of the perfect tenses to teach.

Instructions

1. Begin with a riddle. If two actions happen in the past, which action happens first? The past perfect tense tells you.

2. Write the following sentence on the board. "The house had burned to the ground when the firemen arrived."

3. The past perfect, "had burned" tells you that that action occurred first.

4. Write the following on the board - "past perfect = had + past participle." Some examples are "had eaten", "had read", and "had slept."

5. The past perfect clause can also appear at the end of the sentence as the second action. "The firemen arrived after the house had burned down."

6. Point out that the prepositions that join the two clauses help you define which action occurred first. In the previous examples, "after" and "when" help you determine the time sequence.

7. The past perfect progressive tense describes an action that began first and is still in progress, it is still occurring, it has not completed. Write the following sentence on the board. "The house had been burning when the firemen arrived."

8. Write the following on the board - past perfect progressive = had + been (past participle of the verb "to be") + verb + "ing." Some examples are "had been eating", "had been reading", and "had been sleeping."