1.1. Paco had not imagined he would find such an amazing city (past perfect negative)

Once we have studied the Past Perfect in affirmative, now we are going to go through the negative form. Do you remember the Present Perfect negative form? Well, the same applies to this tense, but with the past form of the verb  have.

Curiosidad

The Times Square Building, The New York Times' headquarters from 1913 to 2007
Imagen de Americasroof. Licencia CC.
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, 'The Gray Lady'—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record. The Times is owned by The New York Times Company, which publishes eighteen other newspapers, including the International Herald Tribune and The Boston Globe. The company's chairman is Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., whose family has controlled the paper since 1896.

The paper's motto, as printed in the upper left-hand corner of the front page, is 'All the News That's Fit to Print.' It is organized into sections: News, Opinions, Business, Arts, Science, Sports, Style, and Features. The Times stayed with the eight-column format for several years after most papers switched to six columns, and it was one of the last newspapers to adopt color photography. The Times has won 101 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization. Its web site was the most popular American online newspaper Web site as of December 2008, receiving more than 18 million unique visitors in that month.

Taken from Wikipedia.

Actividad de lectura

1) According to the text, can you infer the meaning of these words: daily, owned, whose, motto.

2) Complete this sentence with the information provided above:

The New York Times is also known as ___________________ because of its staid appearance and style.

3) Say if the following sentences are true or false:

- Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. is the company's chairman.

- The Times stays with the eight-column format nowadays.

- The New York Times was one of the last newspapers to adopt color photography.

Answer these questions on the curiosity text about the New York Times newspaper.

Reflexiona

The auxiliary verb  have (in the past tense) is usually contracted in the negative form of the Past Perfect Tense. For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb.

Ejercicio Resuelto

1) My father was afraid because he __________ ( fly) on a plane before.

2) I didn't pass the exam. I __________ ( study) much.

3) Mike's dog was really hungry because he __________ ( feed) it since Tuesday.

4) They __________ ( see) their family in London for a long time.

5) He was exhausted. He __________ ( sleep) at all the night before.

 

Complete the sentences using the negative form of past perfect. Use the short form.

Comprueba lo aprendido

Read the paragraph below and fill in the missing words with the past perfect negative forms of the verbs in brackets.
A typical shopping centre in the U.S.
By wylliepoon. Creative Commons.
In the shopping centre I met a friend that I (see) for ages. He (be) in my city since I was a child. He told me that he (hear) anything about me for a long time and he (write) to me because he didn't know my current address. That's why he (keep) in touch with me.

Habilitar JavaScript

It's not too difficult, is it? Let's finish this tense with the interrogative form in the next section.