English Dialogue with Exercises: Using the Past Perfect Tense to Talk About Past Events

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Aldo and Nina are talking in a coffee shop while discussing a school drama performance, using the Past Perfect tense to describe events in the past.

A. Past Perfect Tense dalam Dialog

Aldo: "I'm sorry you couldn't come to the play with me last night, Nina."

Nina: "I'm sorry too, Aldo, but I'd already made other arrangements before you invited me."

Aldo: ""I know. But if you'd been able to come, you would have enjoyed it very much."

Nina: "Was it a good play?"

Aldo: "Yes, it was a good play, but there's another reason why you would have enjoyed yourself."

Nina: "Why would I have enjoyed myself, then?"

Aldo: "Because it was so funny."

Nina: "But it wasn't a comedy, was it? I thought that they'd decided to do a drama."

Aldo: "That's right! They'd decided to do a serious drama, and they did a drama! But they hadn't prepared the play properly."

Nina: "And so it became funny?"

Aldo: "Yes! I laughed till I cried. Until I saw that play last night, I hadn't realized that a serious drama could be so amusing."

Nina: "Oh, please tell me all about it. What happened?"

Aldo: "At the beginning of the play, there was nobody on the stage. Then, one of the actors entered, and sit on a chair."

Nina: "Oh please, Aldo. Don't laugh! Tell me what happened."

Aldo: "Well, he'd just sat down when someone knocked at the door. He turned around suddenly - and the chair broke!"

Nina: "Oh dear! And by that time he hadn't spoken a word, I suppose."

Aldo: "No. Everybody laughed. The actor who was knocking at the door hadn't heard the crash, so he knocked again. The actor who had broken the chair called out: "Come in!" The first actor hadn't got up from the floor when the second one came in and started to laugh too!"

Nina: "And then what happened?"

Aldo: "When they removed the broken chair, the play really began."

Nina: "But you said that the actors hadn't learnt the play properly. Tell me about that!"

Aldo: "A little later, at one of the most interesting moments in the play, one of the actors forgot what to say next. He couldn't remember what to say, and nobody helped him."

Nina: "Oh, poor man! What did he do?"

Aldo: "After he'd stood there for a few moments, he started to speak again, but they weren't the right words. Because he hadn't said the right words, the other actors didn't know what to say next."

Nina: "And I suppose everyone laughed again!"

Aldo: "Yes, and when they'd started to laugh, they couldn't stop laughing during the rest of the play. The actors made a lot more mistakes, and people laughed more and more. It was a wonderful play!"

Nina: "Well, Aldo, I'm really sorry I'd made those other arrangements!"

Practice: Past Perfect (Self-Scoring)

Isi jawaban pada setiap kotak. Semua jawaban tanpa huruf besar/kecil sensitif. Tekan Submit untuk melihat skor. Untuk mengulang latihan, tekan Reset untuk menghapus jawaban dan memulai kembali.

• A. Identify the Past Perfect (write had + V3 only)
  From the dialogue: write any 10 different had + V3 phrases (e.g. had made, had prepared, ...). Duplicate entries count only once.
• B. Complete the Sentences (fill with Past Perfect)
  1. By the time the play started, the actors their lines properly.
  2. She was really tired because she all day.
  3. When we arrived, the movie .
  4. He couldn’t answer the question because he .
  5. After I , I went to bed.
• C. Rewrite the Sentences using Past Perfect
  1. I arrived late. Lisa left a few minutes earlier. (Use "When")
     
  2. He didn’t pass the test. He didn’t study.(Use "Because" or "So")
     
  3. They went home. They had dinner first. (Use "After" or "Before")
     
  4. We didn’t get tickets. The concert sold out. (Use "Because" or "As")
     
  5. The teacher was angry. The students made noise. (Use "Because", "As" or "So")
     

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Reference:

• Thomson & Martinet (1986). A Practical English Grammar (4th Ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Allen W. Stannard (1989). Living English Structure. Hong Kong: Longman.
• Radio Australia, English for You. Victoria: The Dominion Press.

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Published: Sun, 4/7/19 9:15 PM, PV14212
Updated: Mon, 12/1/25 (Interactive Exercise included)