Past Simple and Perfect

Verb tenses: Past simple & Past perfect

01 Past Simple

Definition

It's used for past actions that have been done already. So we need them to talk about past, when actions are finished and they don't relate to the present anymore.

1. I dropped my bubble gum ice cream last weekend.

02 Past Perfect

Definition

It's a complicated verb tense, because it depends of another past action to take place. We often use it before a simple past action.

2. They had fallen asleep when her mother came home.

03 Structure of Past Simple and Perfect

You don't need to memorize them, just inderstand.

• Past Simple

Affirmative: I drank water.Negative: I didn't drink water.Question: Did I drink water?

• Past Perfect

Affirmative: I had drunk water.Negative: I hadn't drunk water.Question: Had I drunk water?

Past Perfect

Past Simple

VS

It is independent from the past perfect.

It completely depends of the simple past.

It's used to talk about past actions already made.

Used to talk about actions made before a past action.

We work with past participle verbs.

We work with past verbs.

We are helped by the auxiliary "did".

We are helped by the auxiliary "had".

signal words

Past Simple

Past Perfect

yesterdaylast week two weeks ago

by the time yet when just before never after already

They went to New York three months ago. I met her yesterday. My best friend moved to Australia last week.

By the time the firefighters arrived, the neighbors had extinguished the fire. When the guests arrived, my mother had finished cooking. Before Emma left to Italy, she had taken a course in the Italian language. They took a final decision after they had discussed all the details

Make sentences

1st: She wrote …; 2nd: She signed up …She had written two books before she signed up for the competition. 1st: They visited …; 2nd: We spoke … _________________________________________________________________________ 1st: He cleaned up …; 2nd: The police arrived. _________________________________________________________________________ 1st: He watched the film …; 2nd: He read the book. _________________________________________________________________________

Past Perfect

Past Simple

VS

Make sentences