LEWM : "ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD/PAST PERFECT" ESL LESSON

ARCENAL STUDIOS PRESENTS - Learning English with Movies : "ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD" - In This Video, we use the movie to practice THE PAST PERFECT TENSE. This Video is designed for ESL English Students who want to improve their English and for the casual Movie Fan.

 

 "ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD" : THE PAST PERFECT TENSE

 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD was directed by acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.

 

The films follows the life of a struggling Hollywood actor Rick Dalton and his trusty stuntman as they navigate the constantly changing nature of the movie and television industry in the 1960’s.

The film also explores and reinterprets the tragic events of the Sharon Tate murder by the hands of the Manson family.

The past perfect tense is used to show past actions.

The past perfect tense demonstrates the past relative to timing or other past events and is often used for reporting on things that happened or were said.

For this reason, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is the perfect movie to practice the past perfect tense.

We use the PAST PERFECT TENSE to show that an action happened before something else in the past:

·      Hollywood actor Rick Dalton, the star of the 1950s Western television series Bounty Law, feared his career was fading, as most of his recent roles HAD BEEN guest appearances as villains.

To show that an action happened before a specific time in the past:

·      Dalton HAD STRUGGLED to remember his lines before he suffered a breakdown in his trailer.

·      On their first day back in Los Angeles, Dalton and Booth HAD GONE OUT for drinks to commemorate their time working together before they returned to Dalton's house.

·      Manson Family members HAD ARRIVED in preparation to murder everyone in Tate's house, when Dalton ordered them off his street.

Keep in mind that past perfect tense makes it clear that one thing happened before another in the past.

The order of events does not matter since the tense makes it clear which event happened first.

·      Booth HAD PICKED UP a female hitchhiker named "Pussycat" before he went to Spahn Ranch.

·      Booth went to Spahn Ranch after he HAD PICKED UP a female hitchhiker named “Pussycat”.

Another use of past perfect tense includes reported speech. Examples of this use include:

• The director asked if Rick HAD READ the script for the Spaghetti Western.
• The usher asked if she HAD PURCHASED her ticket.
• Cliff Booth asked if they HAD SEEN his dog.

Past perfect tense can also be used to show dissatisfaction with the past. Examples of this use include:

• Rick Dalton wished he HAD GOTTEN the part in the “GREAT ESCAPE” movie.
• Sharon Tate wished she HAD STARRED in a very successful film.
• She wished she HAD BECOME a famous Hollywood actress.

Past perfect tense can also be used with the word "just." When combined, this makes it clear that the event was only a short time prior.

Some examples of this include:

• Cliff HAD JUST RETURNED home when the Manson killers arrived.
• Cliff HAD JUST FED the dog when they got there.
• The girl HAD JUST LEFT when Cliff got to the bus stop.

 

Since the film is set in the late sixties, using the PAST PERFECT is a great way to talk about events that happened in the past. Not only that, but we can use that PAST PERFECT tense to talk about things director Quentin Tarantino wished HAD HAPPENED.

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