Simple Past or Past Perfect – English Tense Comparison

Simple Past or Past Perfect?

The simple past and the past perfect, also past perfect simple, both express completed actions that took place in the past.

The simple past is the ‘default’ past tense; it expresses past actions, often in sequential order.

The past perfect is ‘the past of the past’; it describes an action or event that took place before another point or action in the past (usually expressed in the simple past).

Example:
When Naomi arrived, the party had already started.
action 1: beginning of the party; action 2: Naomi’s arrival

Learn about the difference between the simple past and the past perfect in English grammar with Lingolia, then practise using these tenses in the interactive exercises.

Contents

Example

Monica flew to London yesterday. As she had never travelled by plane before, she was a little nervous.

First she checked in, then she went to the gate. Finally the plane was ready for boarding and Monica got on the plane.

She had already fastened her seatbelt when the flight attendants gave the safety demonstration.

After the flight attendants had completed the safety demonstration, the plane took off.

When to use the simple past and the past perfect

The table below shows when to use the English simple past and past perfect tenses.

Simple Past Past Perfect

past events and sequential past actions

Example:
Monica flew to London yesterday.
First she checked in and then she went to the gate.
Finally the plane was ready for boarding and Monica got on the plane.

actions and events that happened prior to a certain point or event in the past

Example:
As she had never travelled by plane before, she was a little nervous.
She had already fastened her seatbelt when the flight attendants gave the safety demonstration.
After the flight attendants had completed the safety demonstration, the plane took off.

Signal Words: Simple Past vs. Past Perfect

Signal words can help us to recognise which tense to use in a sentence. Below is a list of signal words for the simple past and past perfect tenses.

Simple Past Past Perfect
  • first
  • then
  • already
  • up to then
  • before (that day)
  • after
  • once

After/before/when with Simple Past and Past Perfect

The simple past and the past perfect simple share some signal words. The table below explains the differences for three of the most common signal words.

Simple Past Past Perfect
after

The clause with after has no verb

Example:
After the safety demonstration, the plane took off.

The verb appears in the clause with after

Example:
After the flight attendants had completed the safety demonstration, the plane took off.
when

The action in the clause with when takes place after the action in the first clause.

Example:
She had already fastened her seatbelt when the flight attendants gave the safety demonstration.

The action in the clause with when was completed just before the new action began.

Example:
When she had fastened her seatbelt, the flight attendants gave the safety demonstration.
before

The action in the clause with before began after the other action was completed.

Example:
All passengers boarded/had boarded before the plane took off.

The action in the clause with before was not yet completed when the other action began.

Example:
The plane took off before all passengers had boarded.

Conjugation

For information on the conjugation of these two tenses, see: