UNIT 5 Past perfect vs. past simple Learners often confuse the past perfect with the past simple. past, We use the past perfect tense to refer to events which happened at an earlier point in the compared with another past event. We use the past simple for an event which occurred generally in the past. By the time I got there, he had left. X By the time I got there, he left. Rewrite the sentences using the correct form of the verb in brackets. 0 The trip was awesome because I (dream) about it all my life. The trip was awesome because I had dreamed about it all my life. 1 Our PE teacher taught us the rules of tennis and we (start) to play. 2 I (come) home from school when it happened. 3 I didn't give the teacher my homework yesterday because I (leave) my bag at home. 4 When we had finished eating and drinking we (go) for a walk in the town centre. 5 Do you like these jeans? I (buy) them yesterday. 6 The letter was from Brown University - they (accept) me! ​