We use the past perfect to talk about a past situation or activity that took place before another past situation or activity, or before a particular time in the past:
• Jo discovered that Leslie had lied to her.
leslie lied <-------—past
||_______________________||________________________||
Joe discovered Now
As Mary shook Mr Morgan's hand, she realised she had seen him before.
<-------—past
||_______________________||________________________||
Mary saw Mr Morgan Mary realised Now
We use the past simple rather than the past perfect when we simply talk about a single activity or «event in the past:
• I handed the letter to him. • Sorry we're late, we took the wrong turning.
Notice the difference in meaning of these sentences with the past perfect and past simple:
• When he stopped laughing, everyone left. (= they left after he stopped laughing)
• When he stopped laughing, everyone had left. (= they left before he stopped laughing)
• I got up when the phone rang. (= the phone rang and then I got up)
• I had gone to bed when the phone rang. (= I went to bed and then the phone rang)
When we give an account of a sequence of past events, we usually put these events in chronological order with the past simple. If we want to refer to an event out of order - that is, it happened before the last event we have talked about - we use the present perfect.
We use the past perfect when we say what we wanted or hoped (etc.) to do, but didn't:
• I had wanted to visit the gallery before I left Florence, but it's closed on Sundays.
• Bill had hoped to retire at 60, but they persuaded him to stay on for a few more years.
Other verbs used like this include expect (to), mean (to), think (about + -ing).
When we use a time expression (e.g. after, as soon as, before, by the time (that), when) to say that one event happened after another, we use either the past simple or past perfect for the event that happened first and the past simple for the event that happened second:
• After Ivan (had) finished reading, he put out the light.
• When Carol (had) brushed her teeth, she went to bed.
But to emphasise that the second event is the result of the first, we prefer the past simple for both:
• She became famous after she appeared on the TV programme.
• When the teacher came in, all the children stood up.
With already and just (= a very short time before) we use the past perfect, not the past simple:
• The film had already begun by the time we got to the cinema.
• She had just stepped into her office when the telephone rang.
0 comments:
Post a Comment