The Past Perfect Tense

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The Past Perfect Tense

mjmo67

The Past Perfect Tense

Hi dear colleagues!

You know I was working on the Past Perfect Tense the other day and I just wanted to make sure about some patterns used with the tense and I �d really appreciate it if you could help me out with them.

1. " The past perfect + when + The Simple Past tense. "

Can I rewrite "The film had just begun when we got to the cinema." as "When we got to the cinema, the film had just begun." And if this is considered correct what would be the difference between the first and the second sentences?

2. " When+ The past perfect, The Simple Past tense. "

Can I rewrite "When Jessica had brushed her teeth, she went to bed." as "Jessica went to bed when she had brushed her teeth" And if this is considered correct what would be the difference between the first and the second sentences?

Thanks very much in advance!

13 Dec 2017

source

If you want to stress that �the action had already done before the other one �you can use when+ past perfect , and I assume there is no difference regarding your first question

13 Dec 2017

yanogator

Both orders are correct, and there is just a slight difference in emphasis. Whatever comes first in a sentence has more emphasis than the rest of the sentence. That applies to your two examples, although not very strongly. Both versions of both sentences are correct and common.

Bruce

13 Dec 2017

mjmo67

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate that my dear colleagues!

13 Dec 2017