XPast Present Future

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Past perfectTake a look at the following illustration:

Each of the Xs represents an event. As you can see, both the events are located in the past, but the one represented by the red X goes before the one represented by the blue X. In this case, the blue X represents the past, and the red X represents the past perfect, which we can summarize as “the past of the past”. The past perfect refers to actions that happened (and concluded) before a specific moment (event) in the past. Take a look at the following example:

Leonardo DiCaprio had received a Golden Globe when he got the Oscar.

Leonardo DiCaprio had received a Golden Globe when he got the Oscar.

Let’s locate the events in this sentence in the timeline:

XPast Present Future

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So, DiCaprio received (got) an Oscar: this is an event that happened in the past; but before receiving the Oscar, he received (had received) a Golden Globe. The past perfect refers to something that occurred before another action in the past.

XPast Present Future

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Past perfect progressiveTake a look at the following illustration:

Again, each of the Xs represents an event. Both the events are located in the past, but this time one of the two events progresses (red arrow) until another event occurs. Pay attention to how this red arrow represents the duration of an activity before something else happens in the past, or cause of that past event. Take a look at the following example:

Fans of DiCaprio had been waiting for his award since 1994.

Fans of DiCaprio had been waiting for his award since 1994.

Let’s locate the events in this sentence in the timeline:

The green X represents the moment in which the event occurs in the past, the red arrow is the duration of this activity, and the blue X is when the second event marks the end of the progression of the green X. In the sentence, since 1994 marks the beginning of the wait; had been waiting is the progressive event in the past; his award is the event in the past that marks the end of the progression,

XPast Present Future

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Designed by Manuel Medina, 2017.

*Illustrations based on the ones presented at

www.englishpage.com