Author: IELTS Research

Past perfect tense is used to express a time before a certain moment in the past. It is used to make clear that one event happened before another in the past. The simple past is used in one clause and the past perfect in the other.
EXAMPLE –

1. Anmol had come when I arrived.
2. When they arrived, we had already left.
3. He was very tired because he had not slept well.

In the above sentences, the words that have been emphasized, denote the action that was performed earlier.

 

Formation of Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is composed of two parts –

1. Past tense of the verb to have (had)
2. Past participle of the main verb

EXAMPLE-

• She had given her notebook to him.
• I had written the letter before time.
• We had not decided.

Past Perfect + just

‘Just’ is used with the past perfect to refer to an event that was only a short time earlier than before now.

• The train had just arrived when I reached the station.
• He had just left seeing the police arrive.
• I had just put the washing out when it started to rain.

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Simple past represents the following –

Indicates an event that has already occurred in the past.

EXAMPLE-

1. I received the letter yesterday.
2. The plane landed at 3:00 am.
3. She left the college early.

To express a habit of the past

EXAMPLE-

1. They studied for many hours.
2. She sang for various companies.
3. She always carried a gun.

simple past tense

To express an action going on at the time stated.

EXAMPLE-

1. While they danced, we sang.
2. While they bathed, we fished.
3. While they studied, he played.

NOTE – it is not compulsory to state the time when the event completed in the past, in a simple past sentence.
For Example-

1. I learnt how to play guitar.
2. He defeated Akhilesh in the war.
3. I did not slept well yesterday.

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The present perfect continuous is used in the following cases –

To express an action that began at some time in the past and still continues.

EXAMPLE-

1. We have been walking since morning.
2. They have been building the house for several months.
3. They have been studying since 7:00 am.

This form of tense if often used to describe a statement that has already completed. In this case, the emphasis is laid on the continuity of activity as an explanation of something.

EXAMPLE-

1. Why have you become so thin? I have been in bed for few months.

In present perfect continuous tense, for and since are often used. But there is a difference between the two.
For is used to indicate a period of time, since indicates a point of time.

For example-

1. She has been reading this book since last January.
2. The boys have been playing for 6 hours.
3. She has been sitting here since yesterday.

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