Aspects of the past Consider this sentence from the story:
In the old days, when they had lived in a proper house, he could have stepped out of the back door and perambulated up and down the yard for a few minutes. Underline examples of past modal and past perfect tenses
Which one indicates a) a possibility or ability? b) an earlier event than the body of the narrative?
Now think about which of the above verb forms would best complete these sentences.
Example: The family couldn't have stayed (not/stay) at the old house because it was unhealthy.
1) Mr Henderson _________ (ask) to move back to his old house if he ___________ (want to)
2) They ________ (all/live) in the terraced house before being relocated to a flat.
3) Mrs Henderson _________ (accept) the tickets before she told her husband about the offer.
4) He ________ (not/move) back even if he _______ (want) to as they _________ (demolish) the house.
5) Alec _______ (decide) that he was going to annoy his father before he got home that evening.