http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aPast+perfect+tag%3aSimple+pastSearch results for 'tag:Past perfect tag:Simple past' matching tags 'Past perfect' and 'Simple past'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhenDoWeUse/hjhlh/post.htm#631081Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:26:24 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:631081avangiThey d be the same if you removed the last night You cannot say I have watched this movie last night BTW I have watched this movie means you ve watched it at some time in the past perhaps 10 years ago Past perfect may be used to indicate that some action took place prior to some other action referred to in the simple past tense I had just returned from taking the dog for a walk when it began to rain hard Before she got her driver s license she had been arrested several times for public drunkenness When the children awoke Santa Clause had come and gone Present perfect doesn t require a reference time I have seen things you would not believe She has completed the first part of the test in record time The action has been completed http://www.englishforums.com/English/ItThisIsTheFirstTime/hjcml/post.htm#629657Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:02:12 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:629657kooyeenNice question I once drove me mad for a while LOL What I learned is that you need to use either the present perfect or the past perfect although it is very idiomatic to use the simple past instead of the past perfect I am talking to you right now This is the first time I ve talked with you I talked to you earlier yesterday etc That was the first time I had talked talked with you Using the simple present in those structures is a very common mistake for non native speakers Using progressive tenses is generally considered unidiomatic even though a native speaker once told me that he saw nothing wrong with saying something like This is the first time I am reading about the accident and I am quite shocked Go figure I just avoid saying that just to play it safe http://www.englishforums.com/English/ConditionalSentence/hzdhm/post.htm#610210Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:10:25 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:610210avangi quote user eagerness I would be lying if I said that I was not satisfied with what I had achieved so far quote This is fine by me In the old days we might have preferred the subjunctive if I were to say that I were not satisfied with what I have achieved Now it s optional A Edit After reading CB s offering I hasten to add that my had have switch is prompted because the simple past tense reference is removed by the subjunctive making the past perfect had achieved less likely http://www.englishforums.com/English/GrammaProblemsPleaseHelp/hzrmp/post.htm#609431Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:34:30 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:609431avangiHi Jonlase Welcome to the English Forums Did and had are auxilliary verbs which are combined with various forms of the main verb to form the more special tenses You can do a search for verb tenses on our site or on the net There are quite a few of them so you re in for a long session had pulled is the past tense of to have plus the past participle of to pull did notice is the past tense of to do plus the bare infinitive of to notice In your first example turned is simple past tense Had pulled is past perfect tense and is used here to indicate that John had pulled the ring out BEFORE you turned Best wishes A http://www.englishforums.com/English/PastPerfectSpecifyingWords/hdvnh/post.htm#600770Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:40:01 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:600770mister micawber Time phrases are irrelevant Past perfect is used to relate two different past times If the precedence of these two times is already clear then simple past is sufficient unless stress is meant to be laid on this precedence Your sentence as it stands should employ simple past she did some work http://www.englishforums.com/English/VerbReportedSpeech/hczzg/post.htm#596009Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:11:36 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:596009califjim quote user Anonymous I was in the bar at 7 o clock Which is the best way to report quote He said he was in the bar In isolation there is no context to provide any reason to use the past perfect even though it is technically the backshift of the simple past Perhaps in reporting a more extended narrative that included both present and past tenses to report you would need the past perfect I am home now but I was in the bar earlier He said that he was at home at the time but that he had been in the bar earlier CJ http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhyPastPerfect/hcdqm/post.htm#595624Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:28:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:595624cliveHi In the Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner s Dictionary for the defintional entry for the word ointment there is a phrase example that contains the word ointment and it is this If you describe someone or something as a fly in the ointment you think they spoil a situation and spoil a situation and prevent it being as successful as you had hoped Why does it have to be had hoped at the end if it had to be that why not just hoped The writer uses had hoped because he wants to stress that the situation occurred in the past and it was before that time that you hoped for success The Simple Past hoped would also be acceptable here as the meaning would still be easy to see Best wishes Clivehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/OneMoreRegardingIfClause/hcckm/post.htm#595233Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:42:13 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:595233thomas tompion quote user sarah88 My understanding is that if we use by this Friday we MUST use present perfect instead of simple present because it s about a period of time not a specific time Am I right about this concept Can we also use simple present To be honest with you I don t know when I can simply use simple past simple present instead of past perfect present perfect So far if it was about a period of time I would always use the perfect tenses and if it was about a specific time day i would always use the simple tenses Could you help me to clarify this Let me know under what kinds of situations I can just use the simple tenses instead of the perfect tenses pls explain each situation with some examples Many thanks Lisa quote That s rather a fundamental question Lisa I ll try to say just a few things in the hope that they will help you understand your grammar books Dealing with a period of time in the past you need to distinguish between 1 a block of time I worked for three years in Wales you spent three years working in Wales 2a a period of time leading up to the present I have been working in Wales for three years I started working in Wales three years ago and am still working there 2b a period of time leading up to a moment in the past I had been working in Wales for three years when the disaster happened I started working in Wales three years before the disaster and was still working there when the disaster happened This distinction between a block of time and a period of time leading up to a particular moment is vital In the case of time leading up to a particular moment the choice of tense indicates whether the particular moment is now present perfect or was some moment in the past past perfect There is of course much more to know about such things the use since and ago for instance but mastering the use of tenses with for is an important beginning and should help you with a large part of your question http://www.englishforums.com/English/OneMoreRegardingIfClause/hcbwx/post.htm#594912Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:15:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:594912sarah88My understanding is that if we use by this Friday we MUST use present perfect instead of simple present because it s about a period of time not a specific time Am I right about this concept Can we also use simple present To be honest with you I don t know when I can simply use simple past simple present instead of past perfect present perfect So far if it was about a period of time I would always use the perfect tenses and if it was about a specific time day i would always use the simple tenses Could you help me to clarify this Let me know under what kinds of situations I can just use the simple tenses instead of the perfect tenses pls explain each situation with some examples Many thanks Lisahttp://www.englishforums.com/English/PastPerfectSimplePast/hbqxb/post.htm#594423Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:36:11 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:594423cliveHi Have you spoken with the guy I had sent you to Have you spoken with the guy I sent you to Say 2 You d only say 1 in some very uncommon kind of context Clive