Unit 5. Past Perfect Tense

We use the Past Perfect: - to talk about an action or event in the past that happened before another action in the past. The second action in the past is in the Past Simple: e.g. He had abandoned his business by that time I arrived in this city; - to give a reason for a past event or action: e. g. He didn’t come because he had missed the train.

Exercise 1. Complete these sentences using the correct form Past Simple or Past Perfect of the verbs in brackets.

1. He already (work) in business before he joined our company.

2. We (win) a controlling share of the company before they

3. They just (start) their business when we worked out a programme of restructuring.

4. As soon as this company (be privatized) their expenditures increased.

5. After they (invest) in business, our shares went up.

6. They (decide) to work together and (form) a joint venture.

7. As soon as our business (expand) we began to buy shares in other companies.

8. Several years ago these two companies formed a joint venture but they (remain) separate legal entities.

9. The regulations (change) before we took over this company.

10. When they (make a bid) for a computer company they were ready to buy it at that price.

Exercise 2. Choose the correct variant:

1. He established/had established his business in 2001.

2. I was late for the company meeting because I missed/ had missed the 6 o’clock bus.

3. She entered the University after she graduated/had graduated from the business school.

4. We arrived late at the stadium and the football match had started/started.

5. When we came back to the hall, the guests left/had left.

6. Her face was familiar, I met/had met her at the university before.

7. Most of the delegates arrived/had arrived by the time I got there.

8. The general manager reported that our company had/had had a successful year.

9. Before these two companies merged, their profit was/had been very low.

10. The plane left/had left when we arrived at the airport.

Exercise 3. Translate into English:

1. Представник фірми вже підписав контракт, коли вони припинили постачання сировини.

2. Ми вже відправили звіт компанії, коли вона побачила деякі помилки.

3. Персонал компанії вже обрав нового президента, коли він зателефонував.

4. До того як ми з’єднали наші компанії, цей бізнес був збитковим.

5. До кінця минулого року вони вже створили декілька спільних підприємств.

6. Він спізнився на конференцію, тому що не встиг на перший автобус.

7. Вона завершила підготовку до щорічного звіту, коли менеджер викликав її у свій офіс.

8. Ми вже розпочали роботу над нашим спільним проектом, коли він залишив компанію.

9. До кінця вересня ціни зросли вдвічі.

10. Його бізнес став дуже прибутковим, коли він запросив нового консультанта.