WHEN SHOULD WE USE
THE PAST PERFECT SIMPLE?
1: A finished action before
a second point in the past.
-When we arrived, the film had started (= first the film started, then we arrived).
We usually use the past perfect to make it clear which action happened
first. Maybe we are already talking about something in the past and we want to
mention something else that is further back in time. This is often used to
explain or give a reason for something in the past.
-
I'd eaten dinner so I wasn't hungry.
-
It had snowed in the night, so the bus didn't arrive.
If it’s clear which action happened first (if we use
the words ‘before’ or ‘after’, for example),the past perfect is optional.
- The film started before we
arrived / the film had started before we arrived.
2: Something that started in the past and
continued up to another action or time in the past. The past perfect tells us
'how long', just like the present perfect, but this time the action continues
up to a point in the past rather than the present. Usually we use ‘for
+ time’. We can also use the past
perfect continuous here, so we most often use the past perfect simple with
stative verbs.
-
When he graduated, he had
been in London for six years. (= He
arrived in London six years before he graduated and lived there until he
graduated, or even longer.)
-
On the 20th of July, I’d worked here for
three months.
3:
To talk about unreal or imaginary things
in the past. In the same way that we use the past simple to talk about unreal
or imaginary things in the present, we use the
past perfect (one step back in time) to talk about
unreal things in the past. This is common in the third conditional and after
‘wish’.
-
If I had known
you were ill, I would have visited you.
-
She would have passed the exam if she had studied harder. I wish I hadn’t
gone to bed so late!
➤➤Exercise 21. Past Perfect and Past Simple
Choose the past perfect, or the
past simple:
1.
We had already eaten when John
(come) home.
2.
Last year Juan (pass)
all his exams.
3.
When I
(get) to the airport I discovered I
had forgotten my passport.
4.
I went to the library, then I (buy) some milk and went home.
5.
I opened my handbag to find that I (forgot) my credit card.
6.
When we
(arrive) at the station,the train had
already left.
7.
We got home to find that someone (break) into the house.
8.
I opened the fridge to find someone (eat) all my chocolate.
9. I had known my husband for three years when we (get) married.
10.Julie was very pleased to see that John (clean)
the kitchen.
11. It (not / rain) all summer, so the grass was
completely dead.
12. When he
(arrive) at the party, Julie had just left.
13. After
arriving home, I realised I (not / buy) any milk.
14. The
laundry was wet – it (rain) while I was out.
15. William
felt ill last night because he (eat)
too many cakes.
16. Keiko
(meet) William last September.
17. First I
tidied the flat, then I (sit) down and had a cup of coffee.
18. John
(play) the piano when he was a child,
but he doesn’t play now.
19. When I
opened the curtains the sun was shining but the ground was white. It
(snow)
during the night.
20. When Julie got home from her holiday, her flat was a mess. John
(have)
a party.
