Past Perfect and Past Simple - Match the Halves
Match and make sentences using the Past Perfect and Past Simple tenses. Which event happened first?
Click a beginning on the left, then the ending that finishes it. Which event happened first?
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Rule: Past Perfect ShowHide
had + 3rd form
The earlier of two past actions: one thing had already happened before another thing in the past.
After they had sold their car, they bought a motorbike.
Laurence had lived in New York before he moved to London.
- negative hadn't: The lawyer hadn't received the letter when we spoke to him.
- question Had …? Had you read the book before?
Past Perfect or Past Simple
The Past Simple tells the story in order; the Past Perfect steps back to something earlier.
When we arrived, the film started. (we arrived, then it started)
When we arrived, the film had started. (it started first – we missed the beginning)
before · after · when · by the time · as soon as · until · already · just · never … before
If you tell events in the order they happened, you don't need the Past Perfect: I read the book and then saw the film. Use it when you go back in time: I saw the film. I had read the book before.