Words and Grammar: Hidden Words and the Past Perfect

Class 6 English · Chapter 10: Change of Heart · NCERT Poorvi section pp. 109–110

Learn

Word puzzle: make words from consecutive letters of a longer word, keeping their order. BADMINTON hides BAD, AD, ADMIN, MINT, IN, TON, ON. PHENOMENON hides HE, HEN, OMEN, MEN, NO, ON. BASKETBALL hides AS, ASK, BASKET, ALL, BALL. Make your own puzzle for a friend!

First action and second action: in "Everyone was discussing their game and how Prabhat had played so well", the playing happened first, and the discussing came after. The older action uses the past perfect: had + third form (had played, had won, had felt).

More examples: "He had won the game, but he did not feel happy." (winning came first) "Surya had not felt bad about losing, which surprised Prabhat." "By the time Prabhat arrived, Surya had already won several matches."

Practice: Prabhat had already finished his homework before the match. Surya had played basketball for years before joining the team. Surya had never met Prabhat before coming to the school. Prabhat had practised badminton before the games period.

Explore: first action or second action?

1. Sort each verb.

Remember

• The past perfect (had + third form) shows the older of two past actions.
• Hidden words use consecutive letters in order: BADMINTON → MINT, BAD, TON.

Quick check

Choose the past perfect: "By the time we reached, the train ____."

1. had left
2. has left
3. leaves
4. was leave

Think about it

Write a sentence with two past actions, using the past perfect for the older one.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.