Past Perfect

Notes:

1. The written lesson is below.
2. Links to quizzes, tests, etc. are to the left.

The past perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary verb "had" with the past participle.

I had studied.
He had written a letter to María.
We had been stranded for six days.

Because the past perfect is a compound tense, two verbs are required: the main verb and the auxiliary verb.

I had studied.
(main verb: studied ; auxiliary verb: had)
He had written a letter to María.
(main verb: written ; auxiliary verb: had)
We had been stranded for six days.
(main verb: been ; auxiliary verb: had)

In Spanish, the past perfect tense is formed by using the imperfect tense of the auxiliary verb "haber" with the past participle. Haber is conjugated as follows:

había
habías
había
habíamos
habíais
habían

You have already learned in a previous lesson that the past participle is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding either -ado or -ido. Remember, some past participles are irregular. The following examples all use the past participle for the verb "vivir."

(yo) Había vivido.
I had lived.
(tú) Habías vivido.
You had lived.
(él) Había vivido.
He had lived.
(nosotros) Habíamos vivido.
We had lived.
(vosotros) Habíais vivido.
You-all had lived.
(ellos) Habían vivido.
They had lived.

For a review of the formation of the past participle



When you studied the past participle, you practiced using it as an adjective. When used as an adjective, the past participle changes to agree with the noun it modifies. However, when used in the perfect tenses, the past participle never changes.

Past participle used as an adjective:
La puerta está cerrada.
The door is closed.
Past participle used in the past perfect tense:
Yo había cerrado la puerta.
I had closed the door.

Here are a couple of more examples:

Past participle used as an adjective:
Las puertas están abiertas.
The doors are open.
Past participle used in the past perfect tense:
Juan había abierto las puertas.
Juan had opened the doors.

Note that when used to form the perfect tenses, only the base form (abierto) is used.



Let's look more carefully at the last example:

Juan había abierto las puertas.
Juan had opened the doors.

Notice that we use "había" to agree with "Juan". We do NOT use "habían" to agree with "puertas." The auxiliary verb is conjugated for the subject of the sentence, not the object. Compare these two examples:

Juan había abierto las puertas.
Juan had opened the doors.
Juan y María habían puesto mucho dinero en el banco.
Juan and Maria had put a lot of money in the bank.

In the first example, we use "había" because the subject of the sentence is "Juan." In the second example, we use "habían" because the subject of the sentence is "Juan y María."



The past perfect tense is used when a past action was completed prior to another past action. Expressions such as "ya", "antes", "nunca", "todavía" and "después" will often appear in sentences where one action was completed before another.

Cuando llegaron los padres, los niños ya habían comido.
When the parents arrived, the children had already eaten.
Yo había comido antes de llamarles.
I had eaten prior to calling them.

This idea of a past action being completed before another past action need not always be stated; it can be implied.

Juan había cerrado la ventana antes de salir. (stated)
Juan had closed the window before leaving.
Juan había cerrado la ventana. (implied)
Juan had closed the window.

The auxiliary verb and the past participle are never separated. To make the sentence negative, add the word "no" before the conjugated form of haber.

(yo) No había vivido.
I had not lived.
(tú) No habías vivido.
You had not lived.
(él) No había vivido.
He had not lived.
(nosotros) No habíamos vivido.
We had not lived.
(vosotros) No habíais vivido.
You-all had not lived.
(ellos) No habían vivido.
They had not lived.

Again, the auxiliary verb and the past participle are never separated. Object pronouns are placed immediately before the auxiliary verb.

Pablo le había dado mucho dinero a su hermana.
Pablo had given a lot of money to his sister.
To make this sentence negative, the word "no" is placed before the indirect object pronoun (le).
Pablo no le había dado mucho dinero a su hermana.
Pablo had not given a lot of money to his sister.

With reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun is placed immediatedly before the auxiliary verb. Compare how the present perfect differs from the simple present, when a reflexive verb is used.

Me lavo las manos. (present)
I wash my hands.
Me había lavado las manos. (past perfect)
I had washed my hands.
To make this sentence negative, the word "no" is placed before the reflexive pronoun (me).
No me había lavado las manos.
I had not washed my hands.

VOCABULARY

 

 

UNIT 8

INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS.

Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and infinitives are sometimes referred to as VERB complements. They may function as subjects or objects in a sentence.

What are Gerunds?

A GERUND is a verb in its ing (present participle) form that functions as a noun that names an activity rather than a person or thing. Any action verb can be made into a gerund.

Spelling Tip

Verbing (Present Participle)

• Add ing to most verbs. Ex. play > playing, cry > crying, bark > barking
• For verbs that end in e, remove the e and add ing. Ex: slide > sliding, ride > riding
• For verbs that end in ie, change the ie to y and add ing. Ex: die > dying, tie > tying
• For a verb whose last syllable is written with a consonant-vowel-consonant and is stressed, double the last letter before adding ing. Ex: beg > begging, begin > beginning. However: enter > entering (last syllable is not stressed)

Gerund Examples

Gerunds can appear at the beginning of a sentence when used as a subject:

1. Jogging is a hobby of mine.

Gerunds can act as an object following the verb:

1. Daniel quit smoking a year ago.

Gerunds can serve as an object after a preposition:

1. I look forward to helping you paint the house.

Note: The same spelling rules that apply to the progressive tenses also apply to gerunds.

Some verbs and verb phrases are directly followed a gerund:

1. Paul avoids using chemicals on the vegetables he grows.

Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive without causing a change in meaning:

1. Some people prefer getting up early in the morning.
2. Some people prefer to get up early in the morning

Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or infinitive but with a change in meaning:

1. He remembered sending the fax. (He remembered the act of send the fax)
2. He remembered to send the fax. (He remembered the fax and sent it.)

What are Infinitives?

An infinitive is a verb form that acts as other parts of speech in a sentence. It is formed with to + base form of the verb. Ex: to buy, to work.

Infinitive Examples

Infinitives can be used as:

an object following the verb:

1. Jim always forgets to eat

a subject at the beginning of a sentence:

1. To travel around the world requires a lot of time and money.

an adverb modifying a verb:

1. You promised to buy me a diamond ring.

an adjective modifying a noun:

1. Tara has the ability to succeed.

Some verbs are directly followed by an infinitive:

1. Do you want to call your family now?

Some verbs are directly followed by a noun or pronoun and then by an infinitive:

1. I convinced Catherine to become vegetarian.
2. He advised me to sell all my shares of stock.

Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund without causing a change in meaning:

1. Will you continue working after you give birth?
2. Will you continue to work after you give birth?

Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund but with a change in meaning:

1. He stopped drinking coffee. (He never drank coffee again.)
2. He stopped to drink coffee. (He stopped what he was doing and drank some coffee.)

VOCABULARY TECNHICAL ARTICLES

WITH THE FOLLOWING GROUP VOCABULARY , SORT AND FORM NEW WORDS ARTIFACTS RELATED TECHNOLOGY

1. MECARA TAGIDIL.
2. HEDAR TES.
3. DERREA E KOOB.
4. TPHONESMAR.
5. DIORA TESALLITE.
6. POTPAL
7. SGP.

1. CAMERA DIGITAL
2. HEARD SET.
3. READER E- BOOK.
4. SMARTPHONE.
5. RADIO SATELLITE.
6. LAPTOP.
7. GPS

Ø  Digital camera: A digital camera is a camera that , instead of capturing and storing pictures in chemical film cameras and photographic film , uses digital photography to generate and store images.

Sentence: My uncle bought a digital camera in San Marino

 

Ø  e book reader: An eBook reader also called electronic reader is an electronic device that reproduces the contents of e-books, with quality paper reading and thanks to the electronic ink technology.

Sentence: Karina has an electronic book reader.

 

Ø  GPS: is a system for determining the position of an object ( person, vehicle ) with an accuracy of up to centimeters ( if you use differential GPS ) worldwide , but typically lasts a few meter accuracy.

SENTENCE: MARLON turn on your GPS.

Ø  HEADSET: transducers are receiving an electrical signal originating from an electronic source ( such as a radio receiver or audio player ) by design allow ears placed near a speaker to generate audible sound waves.

SENTENCE: federico listening music with his headphones.

Ø  Laptop: A laptop or a notebook is a portable personal computer with a clamshell form factor, suitable for mobile use.

Sentence: Esteban performs tasks on your laptop.

 

Ø  Satellite radio: Satellite radio is a radio service broadcast from satellites primarily to cars, with the signal broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than terrestrial radio stations.

Sentence: tourists hear news Satellite Radio.

Ø Smartphone: A smartphone (or smart phone) is a mobile phone with an advanced mobile operating system which combines features of a personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use.

Sentence: Josue is buying a Smartphone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RELATIVE CLAUSES

We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.

How to Form Relative Clauses

Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:

A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing  – you want to know who the girl is.

Do you know the girl …

As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information  – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Relative Pronouns 

relative pronoun	use	example
who	subject or object pronoun for people	I told you about the woman who lives next door.
which	subject or object pronoun for animals and things	Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof?
which	referring to a whole sentence	He couldn’t read which surprised me.
whose	possession for people animals and things	Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
whom	object pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who)	I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.
that	subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)	I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.

Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun? 

Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms - who, which, that are used for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish them as follows:
If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun. Subject pronouns must always be used.

the apple which is lying on the table

If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses.

the apple (which) George lay on the table

Relative Adverbs 

A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.

This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.

relative adverb	meaning	use	example
when	in/on which	refers to a time expression	the day when we met him
where	in/at which	refers to a place	the place where we met him
why	for which	refers to a reason	the reason why we met him

Defining Relative Clauses 

Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.
Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.

A seaman is someone who works on a ship.

Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)

The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.

Non-Defining Relative Clauses 

Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive relative clauses) give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.
Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.

Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?

Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.
Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.

Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.

How to Shorten Relative Clauses? 

Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.

I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.

Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?

The adjective is one of the most essential parts of speech that is used extensively in speech and in writing. There are many kinds of adjectives, but in this article, the largest group under this word type will be discussed—the descriptive adjectives.

The descriptive adjectives can be simply defined as the type of adjectives that are used to express the size, color, or shape of a person, a thing, an animal, or a place. They are used to provide more information to a noun by describing or modifying it.

From the definition above, it can be said that a descriptive adjective adds meaning to the noun that it modifies. This kind of adjective describes a noun in detail by giving an attribute to that particular word. You should kow that descriptive adjectives usually express things that are observable through the five senses (touch, taste, sight, smell, and sound).

The underlined words in the sentences below are all examples of descriptive adjectives used in literary pieces.

• “This isn’t a romance. You’re not a damsel in distress and I’m not the handsome prince come to save you.” – C.J Roberts, Captive in the Dark
• “A library is like an island in the middle of a vast sea of ignorance, particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area has been flooded.” – Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid
• “I learned a long time ago not to judge people by what they look like, sound like, or by the clothes they wear. Just because a house is nice and shiny out front doesn’t mean it’s not rotting on the inside.” – Sherrilyn Kenyon, Infinity
• “O Never give the heart outright,
  For they, for all smooth lips can say,
  Have given their hearts up to the play.”

As the name suggests, the descriptive adjective is a kind of adjectives which is used to describe a noun. It does not only add meaning or provide additional information to a noun, but adds color to the entire text in general. Since there are a lot of nouns in the English language, there is also a very long list of descriptive adjectives available that can modify them.