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Past Simple Vs Past PERFECT

The document discusses the differences between the past simple and past perfect tenses. The past simple expresses completed actions that occurred in the past, while the past perfect describes something that happened before another past event. Some key differences are that the past simple is used to describe a sequence of events, while the past perfect emphasizes the connection between two past actions and indicates one action occurred before the other. Both tenses can be used with time signal words like "first", "then", "before", and "after" to provide context about the order of events.

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Daniela Blagojevic
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2K views2 pages

Past Simple Vs Past PERFECT

The document discusses the differences between the past simple and past perfect tenses. The past simple expresses completed actions that occurred in the past, while the past perfect describes something that happened before another past event. Some key differences are that the past simple is used to describe a sequence of events, while the past perfect emphasizes the connection between two past actions and indicates one action occurred before the other. Both tenses can be used with time signal words like "first", "then", "before", and "after" to provide context about the order of events.

Uploaded by

Daniela Blagojevic
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Past Simple vs.

Past Perfect

There are similarities and differences between past simple and past perfect, which
might cause confusion.

What is Their Main Difference?


While both tenses tend to talk about things that happened in the past, the two clearly
have differences. Past simple expresses actions that occurred in the past, while past
perfect talks about something that occurred before another past event or action.

Uses and Comparison


1. Sequence of Actions in the Past
Both tenses tend to describe past events and actions that are fulfilled and completed.
However, there is one little detail in past simple: Past simple is often used in sequential
order in order to express what has happened in the past.

She took the train. 
 Here, the speaker refers to a completed action that happened in the past.
She had packed her stuff before she took the train. 
 Here, the speaker mentions an action that happened before another action.
2. Describing Connections
As mentioned earlier, past perfect talks about an action that happened before another
action. Past perfect tends to show a stronger connection between the two actions while
when we use past simple, we are just naming events and actions that occur in order.

He had left his bags outside once he arrived. 


 Here, the speaker is referring to an action that happened exactly before another action
and it shows the strong connection that the bags were left outside exactly upon the
subject's arrival.
He left his bags outside. He arrived. 
 Here, the speaker is just naming actions in order.
Signal Words
Past simple tense and past perfect tense can both be used with signal words. Signal
words are words that help us use the correct tense that goes with our sentence. Check
out the table below:

Simple Past Past Perfect


First Before
Then After
1. Past Simple
Firstly, we will look at the past simple when it comes to regular and irregular verbs.

1.1. Regular Verbs


Regular verbs are a very easy case of verbs when it comes to changing their form.
Simply add '-ed' to the base form. Have a look:

Walk → Walked 
Call → Called 
Work → Worked 
Love → Loved 
1.2. Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs do not take a certain pattern and tend to change their forms a lot, that is
why they are called 'irregular.' The only way to learn these verbs and their many forms is
to learn them by heart. Have a look:

2. Past Perfect
The past perfect tense tends to follow a certain pattern when it comes to
structure: Subject + Had + Past participle. As you see in the pattern, we start with any
subject then we have the past tense of the verb 'to have' which is 'had,' followed by the
past participle of the verb.

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