II Past Simple vs. Past Perfect.

NB We use the past perfect:

- for an action which is completed before a time in the past (we can include a specific time reference).

e.g. By the time the UN task force arrived, the rebel forces had taken the province.

- for repeated actions which took place before a time in the past.

e.g. The new owners found that the timbers had been patched up several times.

- to describe a state which existed before a past event (with state verbs instead of the past perfect continuous).

e.g. At the time of her trial last year Hinkley had been in prison for eight months.

- to describe the cause of a past event.

e.g. David didn’t join the band as he’d signed up with a rival label.

- with verbs such as hope, expect, want plan, think about, wish to describe past intentions which were unfulfilled.

e.g. They had hoped to get to the summit but Travers fell ill at base camp.

We can use the past perfect to make a sequence of events clear. We use the past perfect for the earlier action and the past simple for the later. Compare:

e.g. When we got back the babysitter went home (1 we got back, 2 the babysitter went home).

When we got back the babysitter had gone home (1 the babysitter went home, 2 we got back).

If the order of past events is clear from the context (for example, if time expressions make the order clear) we can use either the Past Perfect or the Past Simple:

e.g. After John had finished/ finished reading, he put out the light.

With before + past perfect the action in the past simple happens first.

e.g. I left university before I’d taken the final exams.

We can use it for a past action which prevented a later action from happening.

e.g. She sacked him before he’d had a chance to explain his behavior.

However, when we report what was originally said or thought in the Present Perfect only the Past Perfect is used:

e.g. “I have met him before” → I was sure that I had met him before (NOT …I met …).

5. Use the Past Simple or the Past Perfect to complete the sentences:

When I (1 go) to Paris last spring for a job interview, I (2 not be) there for five years. I (3 arrive) the evening before the interview, and (4 spend) a happy hour walking round thinking about the good times I (5 have) there as a student.

As I was strolling by the Seine, I suddenly (6 see) a familiar face - it was Nedjma, the woman I (7 share) a flat with when I was a student, and whose address I (8 lose) after leaving Paris. I could tell she (9 not see) me, so I (10 call) her name and she (11 look) up. As she (12 turn) towards me, I (13 realise) that she (14 have) an ugly scar on the side of her face. She (15 see) the shock in my eyes, and her hand (16 go) up to touch the scar; she (17 explain) that she (18 get) it when she was a journalist reporting on a war in Africa.

1. She (19 not be) uncomfortable telling me this; we (20 feel) as if the years (21 not pass), as if we (22 say) goodbye the week before. She (23 arrive) in Paris that morning, and she (24 have) a hospital appointment the next day. The doctors (25 think) that they could remove the scar, but she would have to stay in Paris for several months. Both of us (26 have) the idea at the same time: if I (27 get) the job, we could share a flat again. And we could start by having a coffee while we (28 begin) to tell one another everything that (29 happen) to us in the past five years.