Ok so we've looked at the past simple
and we've looked at the past continuous.
Let's look at the PAST PERFECT.
So the past perfect is a little different
to the past simple and the past continuous.
The past simple was for one action,
a completed action in the past.
The past continuous was for an action
that was in progress, so a longer
Now the past perfect is a little different.
We use the past perfect when we are talking
So we have one action in the past
and I want to tell you that this action
happened before this other past action.
So let's look at an example it will help me explain it.
Ok so by the time I got to the station the train had left.
So there are two actions in the clause;
„By the time I got to the station“ and
So which action happened first?
The train had left, so I went to the station
The train was gone, it was gone,
there was no train in the station.
So I'm telling you that this action
Let's look at the form of it and
then we'll continue explaining.
So similar to the other, here we have
„the train“ is our subject plus this verb „had“.
The past of have which is had and the past participle.
So each verb will have 3 forms;
the past which is irregular for the verb to go WENT,
So similar to the past simple forms
of the irregular verbs, the past participle
is just something you have to learn,
you have to maybe to get the list similar to
the past simple verbs, take two or three every day
and just really learn them and try to use them
either speaking or writing and that's really
the only way you're going to remember them is by using them.
So you've got our subject + the verb HAD + past participle.
So it's similar to the past continuous that the verb have,
if I change this (HAD) to have it becomes the present perfect.
If I change it to HAD it becomes the past perfect.
So it's very important that we don't forget this verb.
Because this is the verb that tell us
that it's the past and not the present.
Ok, let's look at a time line.
OK, so we'll say that this is now and all of here is the past.
So let's say by the time I got to the station.
So let's say I got to the station at 9 AM, 9 in the
But the train left at 8:45 AM.
So we're saying this is 8:45 AM.
So I'm saying here is when the train left and
here is when I got to the station.
So because I'm starting with this action,
I'm saying by the time I got to the station the train had left.
This action happened before this action.
If I want to talk about the sequence of actions, and I
start with the first action I'm just going
use the past simple for all of the actions.
So, do you remember my story about what I did this morning?
When I was explaining the past simple.
I got up, I had breakfast, I had a shower,
I brushed my teeth, I got dressed, I tied my shoelaces,
I left the house, I drove here.
So I'm using the past simple for all of these actions.
Because they're in sequence, I got up happened first,
I had my breakfast happened second,
I had a shower happened third,
I brushed my teeth happened fourth.
So I'm telling you that this is the sequence of events,
so they're all the past simple.
If I want to tell you something happened - past simple,
and I want to say something happened before this,
at a time in the past then I'm going to use the
past perfect, to show you this.
I could change this clause, into the train left 5 minutes
Now I'm telling you the sequence of events,
the train left five minutes before
Both of them are past simple actions so I can
tell you just by the sequence, that this
happened before this happened.
By the time I got to the station, the train had left.
Now I'm using the past perfect to explain
that this action happened before this action.