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ESL forum >
Message board > USE OF THE PAST PERFECT WITH BEFORE AND AFTER
USE OF THE PAST PERFECT WITH BEFORE AND AFTER
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Missfrancisca
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USE OF THE PAST PERFECT WITH BEFORE AND AFTER
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Here I am again with another doubt about the past perfect and the use of before and after, I have checked in books but it is not clear to me either. By the way, can you recommend me a good grammar book , mine doesn �t work sometimes: and I have got a lot , Longman english Grammar, Practical Ensglish Usage by Swan, Comprehensive Grammar of English by , A Practical English Grammar by A. J. Thomson and A. V. Martinet, etc.
here it �s my question
it is correct to say
Before Jane went to the zoo she had read a lot about elephants.
Before J ne had read a lot about elephants she went to the zoo.
After the airplane had gone I arrived
After I arrive the airplane had gone.
or it is more correct the first one in each pair. Thank you again.
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8 Nov 2009
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fsams
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Hi dear, I am morethan happy to help you!!
The easiest way to remember Past perfect with after and before is...
We use �After � to describe the First action
Eg. After I had written the letter, I mailed it.
or I mailed the letter after I had written it.
(First I wrote the letter, then I mailed it)
We use �before � to describe the second action.
Eg. Before I mailed the letter, I had proofread it.
or I proofread the letter before I mailed it.
( I sent the letter only after proofreading it)
Another point to remember is we use Had+parictiple for First action
The second action is always in past simple.
Hope it helps
Tc
Fsams |
8 Nov 2009
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Mr Atef
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Dear Sirs,
It gives me so pleasure to help you. Remember that if there are two actions and both of them happened in the past, the first action must be in the past perfect but the second action must be in the past simple. Or the first action happened and finished before the beginning of the second action.
e.g.
1) I saw the car which Mr Atef had bought. ( It means he bought it first then I saw it)
2) I had seen the car which Mr Atef bought. ( It means I saw it first then he bought it. )
3) I arrived at the station after the train had gone. ( It means it went before I arrived so I missed it.
4) After I had arrived at the station, the train went. ( It means I arrived before the train left so I caught it.)
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8 Nov 2009
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donapeter
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I try to teach my students to put a number under each action in order to see which one is the first one and which is the second one. The rest of it, it �s just time sequencing: past perfect for the first action, past simple for the second action.
I had bought a car and after that I had an accident. 1st action 2nd action then we can rephrase it:
Before I had an accident, I had bought a car. 2nd action 1st action ( I needed a car in order to be an accident)
after I had bought a car, I had an accident. 1st action 2nd action It makes a lot of logic!!!
D
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8 Nov 2009
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vickyvar
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Hi!
I would say:
Before Jane went to the zoo she had read a lot about elephants.
After Jane had read a lot about elephants, she went to the zoo.
After the airplane had gone I arrived
Before I arrived, the airplane had gone.
Past Perfect describes an action that occured before another in the Past. So you should
be more careful in identifying which action occured first and then use Past Perfect (1st action) and Past Simple (2nd action).
Hope that I helped you.
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8 Nov 2009
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