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Lesson planB150 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
The Train Had Already Left: past perfect
Students use the past perfect to talk about earlier events in travel stories, then write about a journey when something went wrong.
Past perfect · Travel · Stories
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Plan at a glance
Aims
- Use past perfect accurately
- Learn and use 15 words and phrases in 2 sets: Documents, airports and places to stay, Journeys
- Read for detail: a trip that went wrong
- Writing task: a journey that went wrong
Stages · 50 min
- 5 minLead-in: Pairs talk about travel and share ideas with the class.
- 5 minVocabulary: Ex. 1
- 5 minLanguage focus: Go through the grammar notes together and check understanding.
- 5 minControlled practice: Ex. 2
- 5 minVocabulary: Ex. 3
- 5 minAccuracy practice: Ex. 4
- 10 minReading: Ex. 5
- 10 minWriting: Ex. 6
Printables
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Download all (ZIP, 2 PDFs)Grammar notes
What happened first?
- Use the past perfect (had + past participle) for something that happened before another moment in the past: When we got to the station, the train had already left.
- Compare: When we arrived, the train left. (We saw it leave.) When we arrived, the train had left. (It left before we arrived.)
- You don't need the past perfect when the order is clear: After we had breakfast, we set off. = After we had had breakfast, we set off.
Forms
- Positive: I had (I'd) forgotten my passport.
- Negative: We hadn't booked a room.
- Question: Had you been there before?
- Common words: already, just, never, before, by the time, because.
Study tips
- Tell a travel story in order. Then tell it again starting at the end, and use the past perfect for the earlier events.
- Learn the past participles of irregular verbs: go → gone, see → seen, forget → forgotten, leave → left.
Glossary
- Documents, airports and places to stay7 items
- Journeys8 items
Complete the exercises, then check your answers.
1
Travel words
Choose the correct word.
- a
I stayed in a cheap ___ with shared rooms and met people from all over the world.
- b
You can't enter that country without a ___. You have to apply for one before you travel.
- c
After eight hours on the road, we finally ___ the hotel.
- d
We went on a day ___ to the seaside and came back in the evening.
2
What had happened?
Write the correct form of the verb in brackets. Use the past perfect.
- a
When we got to the station, the train (already / leave).
- b
I couldn't check in because I (forget) my passport at home.
- c
We (never / see) the sea before that holiday.
- d
By the time we reached the hotel, the restaurant (close).
- e
She (not / book) a room, so she slept in a hostel.
- f
We missed the bus because we (not / check) the timetable.
- g
you been to Paris before your trip last year?
3
Word formation
Use the word in capitals to form a word that fits the gap.
- a
Our flight was because of the bad weather.
DELAY - b
It was really when the airline lost our luggage.
ANNOY - c
The board showed the time of our train.
ARRIVE - d
Our was at 6 a.m., so we had to get up at four.
DEPART - e
The seats on the night train weren't very .
COMFORT - f
The staff at the hostel were very when we arrived late.
HELP
4
Find and correct the mistake
Each sentence has one mistake. Write the correction: the corrected word(s) or the whole sentence.
- a
I booked a fly to Rome.
- b
We arrived to the hotel late.
- c
The travel takes two hours.
- d
By the time we arrived, the plane has already left.
- e
She had went to Spain twice before.
- f
I had never saw such a big airport.
- g
When I got to the airport, I realised I forgot my passport.
- h
When we reached the hostel, our friends already left.
5
Read: a trip that went wrong
Read the text. Are the sentences true, false or not given?
Last summer, Tom and his friend Jake planned a week in Scotland. They had booked everything months before: the flights, a hostel in Edinburgh and a car. But on the day they set off, nothing went to plan. When they reached the airport, Jake realised that he had left his passport at home. By the time he had gone back to get it, their flight had already left. The next flight was full, so they took the train instead. The journey took nine hours, and when they finally arrived in Edinburgh, the hostel had given their room to someone else, because they hadn't called to say they were late. In the end, they found a small hotel near the station. Jake says it was the best trip he has ever had, because they came home with so many funny stories.
- a
Tom and Jake booked the hostel just before the trip.
- b
Jake forgot his passport.
- c
They caught their first flight.
- d
The train was very crowded.
- e
The hostel gave their room away because they hadn't called.
- f
Jake enjoyed the trip in the end.
6
Write: a journey that went wrong
Write a short story.
Write about a journey or trip when something went wrong (8–10 sentences). It can be real or imagined. What happened, and what had happened before? Use the past perfect at least three times. Word box: flight · passport · visa · hostel · hotel · reach · arrive · journey · trip · check in · miss the bus · realise · set off Example: Two years ago, we set off for the airport at five in the morning. When we reached the check-in desk, I realised I had left my passport on the kitchen table…
Suggested minimum: 80 words
0 words · aim for at least 80
Spotted a mistake in this lesson?· tell us the exercise and item
Revise with a game
This lesson's own words and questions. Play on your own, or in teams on the classroom screen.
- Step UpAnswer the lesson's questions to climb to the top.
- Pair UpMatch the lesson's words to their meanings against the clock.
- SnapA word and a meaning: do they go together? Answer fast.
- Fix ItFind the mistake in each sentence, then correct it.
- Quiz BoardTeams choose questions worth 100 to 500 points.
- Retro arcadeWord Invaders, Word Snake, Word Maze and Word Crossing: classic arcade games with the lesson's words.
Glossary
The 15 words and phrases this lesson teaches, in 2 sets.
Documents, airports and places to stay
- passport
- an official document you need to travel to other countries
- visa
- an official document that lets you enter or stay in a country
- hotel
- a building where people pay to stay for a short time
- hostel
- a cheap place to stay, often with shared rooms
- check in
- to arrive and give your name at a hotel or airport
- luggage
- the bags and cases that you take with you when you travel
- airport
- a place where planes arrive and leave
Journeys
- journey
- travelling from one place to another
- trip
- a journey to a place and back
- flight
- a journey by plane
- set off
- to start a journey
- arrive
- to get to a place
- reach
- to arrive at a place, often after a long time
- miss the bus
- to arrive too late to get on the bus
- realise
- to suddenly understand or notice something
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