Балаян Анастасия, 5041
Past Perfect
P. Perfect
Past Simple
P. Simple
present
Past Perfect describes an event, which happened before another event / a particular time in the past:
 He discovered the letter when she had already left.
Past Simple describes an event in the past:
 He left the house at 10 pm yesterday.
a sequence of events
 He got up, made the bed and ate his
breakfast.
intentions and hopes that were not realized
(want, hope, expect, mean, think)
 We had meant to visit you, but July got sick.
with time expressions after, as soon as, before, by the time, when, we can use both Past Perfect and
Past Simple
 She called / had called me after I got home.
to emphasise that one event is the result of
another
 She became famous after she starred in this
film.
time expressions: already, just
 I had already done it, when she came.
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous
an activity that happened before some event in
the past → emphasis is on the activity itself or on
the repetition of some event
 They had done it before he came.
 I had heard this symphony many times
before the yesterday’s concert.
a situation or activity that happened over a
period of time up to a particular moment in the
past → emphasis is on the duration
 They had been waiting for 5 hours before he
came.
* If we want to express continuity, but it doesn’t
matter how actually long the activity was
happening, we can use Past Continuous
 She told me about two ladies she had
overheard recently. They were discussing a
new house.
with verbs describing states we prefer Past
Perfect to Past Perfect Continuous
 I had always believed that it would be easy
to get a job.