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Friday 24 April 2009

MINI-GRAMMAR: THE PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

THE PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

We use the past perfect to talk about completed actions in the past that happened before other actions in the past.

The police arrived, but the pickpocket had run away.
(= The pickpocket ran away and then the police arrived.)

We often use the past perfect and the past simple together to show the order in which two actions took place.
Compare the following pair of sentences:

He had married her when he bought a new flat. (= He married her and then he bought the flat.)
He married her when he had bought a new flat. (= He bought the flat and then he married her.)

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