You're about to learn how to use the past perfect

to talk about new experiences

Remember, the past perfect is made with

'had'

'not'

if it's negative

plus the past participle

and with this meaning

it's very common to use the preposition 'before'

Have...

you met Ben?

A few years ago, he got his first job at a shoe store.

As it was his first job

he did many things for the first time

For example, he helped a customer

He used a cash register

and he cleaned a store

All of these things

were brand new experiences in his life

Let's look at how to talk about these things

using the past perfect

Here is the grammatical structure

First, you put the subject

Then, the verb phrase

Which begins with the auxiliary verb 'had'

then the negative particle 'not'

Actually, with this meaning

It is more common to use never

instead of 'not'

This makes your meaning stronger

plus the past participle

then comes the object

and finally the preposition 'before'

However, before is optional

Take a look at out first example

He used a cash register for the first time

In our new sentence, the subject will stay the same

'He'

Now the verb phrase 'had never used'

and the object

'a cash register'

and finally, 'before'

This gives us the sentence

He had never used a cash register before

Now, our next example

The verb is 'cleaned'

He had never cleaned a store before

And in our final example the verb is 'helped'

This becomes, 'he had never helped a customer before'

A few months later

Ben met a girl named Jen

They ended up dating for a while

and finally getting married

At the wedding, they each had many new experiences

Ben wore a tuxedo for the first time

Jen walked down the aisle

and...they went on a honeymoon

Here's how we would talk about these experiences

using the past perfect

Ben had never worn a tuxedo before

Jen had never walked down the aisle before

and...they had never gone on a honeymoon before

I have a surprise for you

More grammar!

Try not to get too excited

Instead of using 'before' at the end of the phrase

It's common to use this structure

'Before'

plus a clause in the past simple

and then a clause in the past perfect

For example

Before he got married

Ben had never worn a tuxedo

Before she got married, Jen had never walked down the aisle

and finally, before Ben and Jen got married, they had never gone on a honeymoon

Surprise, surprise, surprise

A few months later,

Jen was...

pregnant!

What a life changing experience!

She had a pregnancy glow for the first time

She lived with very little sleep

and...she changed a diaper

Now it's time to see these new experiences

written in the past perfect

Before she got pregnant, Jen had never had a pregnancy glow

Before she had a baby, Jen had never lived with very little sleep

and finally,...

before she had a baby,

jen had never changed a diaper

It's that time again

time to practice what you've learned

What you need to do is write a sentence

talking about the new experiences given

using 'before' plus the past simple

then a clause in the past perfect

For example,

Johnny went to the zoo

for the first time in his life

he saw an elephant

this becomes

Before Johnny went to the zoo,

he had never seen an elephant

Here are your questions, good luck!

Here are your answers

If you would like more practice

click on the link in the description

to visit my website

There is a printable handout there

with more questions and answers

Thank you for watching. Have a great day!