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Much of what was said about the choice between the present simple and the present perfect in future time clauses also applies to the choice between the past simple and past perfect in past time clauses. In some sentences, there may be little difference in meaning between the two verb forms:
If, however, we need to make a time distinction between two past events, we use the past perfect for the earlier of the two events. 23a We went out as soon as we'd had dinner. 23b When I got there, everyone had gone dinner. We also use the past perfect if we wish to establish a causal connection between two clauses, even when a time distinction between two events is already made clear by a conjunction. 24 After he had given the police his name and address, he was allowed to go. We could paraphrase the time clause in 24 in either of two ways: When the police were in possesion of the necessary information, ,,, (this expresses the current relevance of his having given his name and address) Because the police were in possesion of the necessary information,,,, (this expresses the causal connection) If we wish to list a number of past events simply as a sequence, and if the time distinction between these events is made clear by words like after, before, first, next, later, etc., we can use a succession of past simple forms: It was a very busy evening for us. First the Smiths came for cocktails, and we were later joined for dinner by the Joneses. Shortly after the Joneses arrived, we got a phone call from the Rbinsons to say they couldn't come. We ate an enormous meal, and then looked at some slides of our holiday in Majorca. At 11:30 the Joneses left in a hurry to catch the last bus, and half an hour later the Smiths called a taxi to take them home. In noun clauses, following the past tense of verbs like realize, know, think, etc., the past perfect contrasts in meaning with the past simple:
In 25a, the noun clause (in italics) refers to something already done before the act of realizeing, knowing or thinking, whereas in 25b, it refers to what was a recurrent feature of the situation at that time in the past. In adjectival (relative) clause, a similar distinction applies: 26a He apologized for any trouble he had caused. 26b He (generally) apologized for any trouble he caused. The past perfect is, of course, used quite regularly in all three types of clause mentioned (adverbial, noun, and adjectival) when associated with for and since. 27a He dropped out of the race after he had been running for only five minutes. We hardly recognized each other, because we hadn't met since we were quite young. We immediately recognized each other, although we hadn't met for years. 27b We all knew he had been drinking heavily since his wife died. 27c The divers came across a wreck that had lain on the sea bed for over 200 years. The past perfect ( like other perfect tense) is also frequently used in association with the adverbs, already, just, yet, still, and before.
28c He particularly wanted to visit London because he had never been there before. |