PerFecTInG The PaSt PeRFecT
Here's another tense that's a real crotch to do in class: the past perfect.
The Past Perfect Tense is formed by using had + the past participle -- that's the third form of the verb. It indicates that something happened, and finished, before some other activity in the past.
For example:
He HAD never SEEN tits as big as the ones on the girl in the front row.
He had an erection for the rest of the day after he HAD SEEN them.
His wallet was gone -- the hooker HAD STOLEN it while his pants were down!
(Jeez, you can tell spring is coming. Anyway.)
Essentially a stupid tense, anyway. So you get the students to work through all the gap-filling exercises in the book and maybe write some example sentences -- then what? Fuck, how the hell do you talk about some shit that happened before something else in the past? You've got no reference there.
I struggled with it for ages. I managed to come up with a few examples of questions to ask:
"Had you ever met a foreigner before you saw me?"
"Had you smoked before you turned 16?" (That's a stupid one anyway -- how do we know they don't smoke now?)
And a few other pitiful examples.
Finally I realized there was no need to keep it real -- I elaborated on some activities I saw elsewhere and came up with the following low-fuss but productive speaking activity.
Write the following questions on the board:
Why was the girl crying?
Why were the streets empty?
Why was the man's nose bleeding?
Why was the house empty?
Why was the crowd cheering?
Why was the dog barking?
Why was her dress dirty?
Why was the car burning?
Why was the young couple smiling?
Why was the crowd angry?
Why was the TV gone?
ETC, ETC. I think you get the idea. Write as many sentences as you can, because students rarely want to say more than they have to.
Then tell them they have to think of a reason why these things happened, or were happening.
Q: Why was the man's nose bleeding?
A: Because somebody had tossed him a whupping!
Q: Why was her dress dirty?
A: Because the dirty slut queen had been rolling around in the mud!
Q: Why was the crowd angry?
A: Because their English teacher had told them to stop using mobile phones.
EMPHASIZE THAT IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED AND FINISHED BEFORE the action in question. Otherwise you'll get answers like:
Why was the crowd angry?
Because wild dogs were chasing them through the streets.
Which isn't our target language. That's the past continuous.
You might offer that as an example of what they're NOT supposed to do. Never underestimate the stupidity of your students. Or, hell, tell them to make some past perfect sentences, then make some past continuous sentences to compare the two tenses.
Shit, that'd be cool, they'd be licking your ass as a grammar god afterward.