![]() ![]() For once, all the students had arrived in the classroom before the 9:00a.m.By the time lunch rolled around, he had already downed a large chocolate milkshake and half a dozen doughnuts.When you are talking about events that happened before a specific time, you can use the past perfect tense. To describe an event that finished before a given time in the past. The family had already had breakfast when Anna came by with a plate of cookies.Ģ.Mommy had already fed the baby before she cooked pancakes for breakfast.Mommy had already had her coffee and journaling time before the baby woke up.The baby had woken up before Daddy and Jimmy came down for breakfast.So we can use the past perfect tense to show one event that happened before another, as in the following sentences: Anna, the neighbor, came by with a plate of cookies at 10:00a.m.Daddy and Jimmy came down and had breakfast at 8:30 a.m.Mommy then cooked pancakes at 8:00 a.m.The baby woke up at 7:00 a.m., and Mommy fed her.Take a look at the scenario below where we have several events that happened in the past: If the first event was still happening when the second event occurred, you need to use the past progressive tense. Note that the event needs to have finished before the second past event. To describe an event that finished before another event occurred. You can use the past perfect tense in the following cases: 1. She + had + been (past participle of be).He + had + spoken (past participle of speak).I + had + seen (past participle of see).The past perfect tense is formed by using the past tense of “has / have,” which is “had” + the past participle of the verb. Using the past progressive and past perfect tenses instead of relying only on simple past makes the sentences come alive. I was eating a salad when my friend Sarah came and told me her brother had run away from home.įrom the example above, the words in bold (“I was eating a salad”) use the past progressive tense, while the underlined words in bold (“her brother had run away”) uses the past perfect tense. ![]() Instead, when you learn how to move up from using only the simple past tense, you will be able to tell the same information in less time but in a more interesting way: Then we went home to find her mother.īut as you can see, the sentences are dry and monotonous. I hugged her and she cried on my shoulder. Then she told me the news about her brother running away from home. Using the simple past, for example, you can still tell the chronology of certain events, such as in the example below:įirst, I ate an apple and a salad for lunch. ![]() To review, the simple past tells about an event that occurred in the past. This diagram will help you visualize when the past perfect tense happens in relation to simple past and the present: What Is the Difference Between Past Tense and Past Perfect Tense? The past perfect tense is also known as the pluperfect tense or “the past of the past.” This is because one easy way to determine if you need that past perfect tense is that it refers to something that happened in the past before another event in the past. In school, you started off learning about the simple past, present, and future tenses, which refer to actions that happened in the stated time period. Understanding how the tenses work goes a long way in making your writing clear and more seamless. This is usually because they have a strong grasp of when to use which verb tense, making their writing smooth and fluid. The best writers are able to make themselves understood no matter how complicated the chronology of events is. ![]()
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