The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

The difference between the past simple and the past perfect

When the events of a story are told in the order in which they occurred, the past simple tense is used:

I

missed

the last bus, so I only

got

home at about 6 o'clock. I

was

really tired, so I

took

a hot bath. Then I

made

some dinner and

watched

a film. At 10, I

was

in bed.

However, if the events are told in a different order or there are references to an earlier time, the past perfect tense is used to express the earlier events:

I only got home at about 6 o'clock because I

had missed

the last bus. I was really tired, so I took a hot bath. Then I made some dinner and watched a film I

had borrowed

from my friend Sheila earlier that week. At 10, I was in bed. It

had been

a long day.

Related topics:

Past simple for completed actions in the past

Past perfect for actions completed before a point in the past