Questions tagged [past-perfect]

This tag is for questions about the usage of the past perfect tense.

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Why is the past perfect tense not used with the event that occurred first in this sentence?

In the book A history of modern Europe by John M. Merriman, it is mentioned "After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Christendom had been split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern ...
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He [had] promised to help, but he [has] bailed out on us

John promises Bob and Bill that he will help them, but then he simply doesn't turn up at the agreed time. Bob calls Peter (who cannot answer the call at the moment) and leaves him a voice message: 1. ...
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Need help with the past perfect in this sentence

I stumbled upon this sentence and got confused: “ Actually, your cartoon was the last show he had seen before getting arrested.” Does it sound natural? And if so, can you explain why the past perfect ...
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How did you know I wrote/had written it

In a classroom, one student (A) to another (B): A: You wrote it on the board, right? B1: I'm surprised! How did you know I wrote it. B2: I'm surprised! How did you know I had written it. What's the ...
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What is direct speech form of these sentences? 1. He asked me if I had come by train or by bus 2. She wanted to know who we had invited to the party

He asked me if I had come by train or by bus She wanted to know who we had invited to the party I Know the basics about direct and indirect speech. But I doubt if my answers are correct. I'm new to ...
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Would it be idiomatic to use past perfect in "I forgot I (had) promised"?

The following is from a movie on YouTube called "Daughter Kidnapped" (a link to that moment): Ally is Paige's Daughter. Ally's father has died recently. Diane is the owner of a farm in the ...
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Past perfect saw thought

1 I saw you ate 2 I saw you had eaten 3 I thought you were right 4 I thought you had been right 1 and 2 are clear to me. 1 at the same time 2 first eating then seeing for example crumbles. What about ...
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Past perfect with know

I knew I was german I knew I had been german Can someone explain the difference between these to and when to use them?
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past perfect continuous vs past perfect (perfect continuous vs perfect simple)

I read that the perfect continuous is an action that continuous up to another point and my teacher told me that usually these actions are ongoing or they end very close to the other point. My question ...
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I thought+ past simple or perfect

1 When I entered the room she cleaned windows 2 When I entered the room she had cleaned windows These examples are clear to me. 1 prpbably both actions at the same time 2 first cleaning that entering....
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The use of past and past perfect tense

This is an excerpt from 'New Concept English 3 Lesson 36' When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive. After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he ...
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Past simple vs past perfect mc

1 I thought you like me 2 I thought you had liked me Is there any difference between these tenses. In my opinion only second one is correct because first was " liking" then " ...
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They arrived when I wasn't around, but I had been there before. - 'does Had Been mean up to a particular moment'

' had been' isn't passive here In this sentence: They arrived when I wasn't around, but I had been there before. when we use 'had been', does it mean that something had been there up to a particular ...
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Past Perfect vs Past Simple in "We [had] lived in Cracow for ten years before we moved to Hong Kong."

We had lived in Cracow for ten years before we moved to Hong Kong. OR We lived in Cracow for ten years before we moved to Hong Kong. In my opinion Past Perfect is more suitable here as the first part ...
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Second conditional or past real conditional?

There is this quote from the show Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey that confuses me: If it wasn't for Edmond Halley, Newton's great book would've never been conceived, nor written, nor printed. Now I ...
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What's the difference to use past simple and past perfect tense when we use subjunctive mood in the past tense?

I'm reading Harry Potter. I found a difference in chapter 6 between the American version and the British version British Version: Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with ...
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Using past perfect after past simple with specific reference point/time

May I please ask if the sentence below is correct. On 20th December 2023 the company announced that the bargain has been completed. If yes, I do not understand why does not the author use "had&...
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Is past simple possible in "Today I learned that you (had) released an LP"?

I bought the single when it was out almost 4 years ago and since then I have always played it , still one of my faves . Today I learned that you (had) released an LP and but it seems to be sold out ...
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How to combine “She was/wasn’t at home” vs “She had/hadn’t been at home" with “when I called her”?

When I called her she wasn’t at home.She wasn’t at home when I called her. When I called her she had been at home.She had been at home when I called her. Does had been at home mean that she was at ...
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Past perfect usage in chronological stentences

I had eaten breakfast before I went to work. Why do we use past perfect here since that sentence is chronological?
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Usage of past perfect

I got up ate breakfast and went to work In this sentence everything is chronological, but can we still use past perfect to emphasise that something happened before for example I had gotten up ate ...
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the best dancer I ever saw

a. When I was in high school, there was this guy in our class who was the best dancer I ever saw. Would you say that sentence corresponds to When I was in high school, there was this guy in our class ...
azz's user avatar
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Is the usage of the Past Perfect tense possible in the context provided? [duplicate]

According to the answer key section the correct tense to use in the second sentence is Past Simple. I wonder whether it is possible to use the Past Perfect tense form "had written" here. ...
Appolinaria's user avatar
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Without context, is there any difference between "had been cancelled" and "was cancelled"?

I have an example sentence that goes like this: I rang the station, and they told me that the train had been cancelled. Is there any difference between that sentence and: I rang the station, and ...
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what tense to use when summarizing an episode of a TV show [closed]

I don't know whether to use present tense or past tense to make a summary of a TV show episode. MasterChef is an example
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"Most people had come to accept that war <was> <would be> inevitable."

a sentence from extra examples of item #7 on oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com: (1) Most people had come to accept that war was inevitable. Does Past Perfect mean "most people coming to accept" ...
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I <have> <had> never eaten sushi before

Suppose that Mary is eating sushi now. Which of the following sentences should Mary use? (1) "I have never eaten sushi before." (2) "I had never eaten sushi before."
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Present/Past Perfect/Past Simple with "Until now"

So, I've gone through a good number of results that I got from BNCweb English language corpus, and can conclude that all these three tenses are used with "until now". If we consider the ...
Fallen Empire's user avatar
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I had never tried pomegranate until now

The past perfect is used to talk about an earlier past situation of two past situations. Supposing I started trying pomegranate a few seconds ago. Would it be natural in this case to say "I had ...
Let's user avatar
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Past perfect + Past Simple in indirect speech

Could someone please explain why don't we use Past Perfect twice in this sentence? She told me that a man in a black mask had come up to her and mugged her just in the middle of the street. I ...
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What Is the Scope of the Past Perfect?

(Post copied, with minor alterations, from English Language & Usage on suggestion from a user.) Recently, I’ve been editing a piece of writing written in first-person present tense. The narrator ...
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For a sentence with logical conclusion shouldn't we use past pefect?

The question is as follow : I ___ (see) him in the park so he can't be at home I have always though that sentence like this with logical conclusion should always use past perfect tense because there ...
gray shiro's user avatar
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Two English grammar questions of past, past prefect

Before we had walked ten miles, he complained of sore feet. Nobody had believed him when he said he was innocent. (1) - Why is past perfect used in the before clause when the main clause is before? (...
inviolable's user avatar
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Can past perfect tense follow present perfect tense?

I read in an English grammar book "I have found the keys which I had lost". Why is past perfect being used? Shouldn't it be "I have found the keys which I lost".
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Does past perfect mean that in this case the action was totally finished?

And I didn’t want to be told what to do. I wanted to be a writer, even though I didn’t know what it meant. I’d always read a lot, and a few writers had a huge effect on me I understand why past ...
Yves Lefol's user avatar
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Past Perfect vs Past Continuous

which one of these sentences is more suitable, if I need to use one of them in a self-introduction? I think both are fine as in the first we emphasize the duration and in the second the result. For ...
Roro's user avatar
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Why was I answered "yes it did" for this question "has the payment gone through?"?

I made an order through the net and as I was not sure my payment had gone through I sent an email(just after ordering) to be sure that the seller received it . So I asked "has my payment gone ...
Yves Lefol's user avatar
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the meaning of 'I would have tried to do'

"It matters little," she said, softly. "To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no ...
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Who's planning ahead? [Context in description]

Tyler went to buy groceries because he was running out of food. Robin went to buy groceries because he had run out of food. Who is planning ahead? Why? Answer was Tyler but I didn't understand this ...
Kaveh Behnia 's user avatar
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Can you use the word 'yesterday' in past perfect tense?

Can you use the word 'yesterday' in past perfect tense? For example, in a story narrated in first person past tense--does this make sense or should it be reworded? "As I approached the dining ...
LEY's user avatar
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Past Perfect: Although we had been good friends when we were young, I knew very little about him

Although we had been good friends when we were young, I knew very little about him. Does the first sentence begin first before the second sentence in past or at the same time
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What's the difference between 'When I saw her, she was near that place' and 'When I saw her, she had been near that place'?

What is the difference in meaning between the two sentences below? 1.When I saw her, she was near that place. 2.When I saw her, she had been near that place. In the first sentence we have Past ...
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They hadn't finished playing by 18.00. vs They didn't finish playing by 18.00

They hadn't finished playing by 18.00. They didn't finish playing by 18.00. I have my own explanation what the difference is between past perfect and simple past when we use the tenses in such ...
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Why is Past Perfect used here?

This is an excerpt from "The Moon and Sixpence", by W Somerset Maugham, the very beginning of chapter 18: had this in my workbook as an example of a specific use of past perfect (the use i ...
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I showed him some snapshots that ... "I had taken in London” or "I took in London"

I understand the past perfect tense and I clearly understand the meaning of the sentence below. I showed him some snapshots that I had taken in London. However, a friend of mine asked me if the ...
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“She played for a while” vs "She had played for a while"

Some time in the summer of 1981 Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo collided in NYC's Lower East Side and formed Sonic Youth. At the age of 18 Thurston had travelled from Connecticut to live ...
Yves Lefol's user avatar
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Was it judicious to use past perfect a second time when the author had already established the time of the event

Stormtrooper, a little known and struggling band from London, had formed and disbanded in a space of 10 months in 1975, two years before punk rock had risen out of the ashes of glam and pub rock . ...
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why no backshifting here?

In April 1912 Rose DeWitt Bukater boarded the Titanic, a liner that was travelling from Southampton to New York. She was with her mother and her snob fiancé Caledon Hockley. Rose was a rich woman who ...
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Past perfect or past perfect continuos

luckily, i found my membership card. I _______ for it all afternoon which one is correct? I had looked for it all afternoon or I had been looking for it all afternoon.
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hasn't have vs. didn't: which one is correct?

What is correct and what is the difference between: I didn't see anybody there. I haven't seen anybody there.
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