Read and learn about past simple and past perfect!
First, revise present simple and past simple from 4th - 6th grade!
Past simple is used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past and are now finished.
For example:
She finished her homework.
They arrived at the airport.
They arrived at the airport.
Past perfect is a verb tense used to show that an action was completed before another action or point in the past. It shows the "first" action in a sequence.
For example:
She had finished her homework before she went out.
They had already arrived at the airport when the flight was canceled.
They had already arrived at the airport when the flight was canceled.
- Past perfect is often used to show the result of an earlier event. It gives more information about an event that happened after it.
For example:
I didn't recognize her because she had changed a lot.
- Past perfect is also used when talking about life experiences, when you want to show that something happened before another event.
For example:
By the time I started working here, I had already visited 10 countries.
They had learned how to swim before their trip to the beach.
They had learned how to swim before their trip to the beach.
Svarīgi!
The past simple describes completed actions at a certain time in the past, but the past perfect shows that an action happened before another action in the past.
For example:
I saw the movie yesterday. (completed action)
I had seen the movie before he told me about it. (an action happened before another action)
I had seen the movie before he told me about it. (an action happened before another action)
Past simple structure:
Subject + verb (-ed/ 2nd form)
For example:
They traveled to Italy.
I read the book.
I read the book.
Past perfect structure:
Subject + had + past participle (-ed/ 3rd form)
For example:
She had eaten lunch when I arrived.
He had finished his work by the time we met.
He had finished his work by the time we met.