Would you use past perfect in following sentence or would you rather go with other tense?     It had been here before we came.
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Example 1      I've lived here all my life, and I've been through quakes before. But this one felt different &mdash; not because of how big it was, but because of all the bad things that happened before.   Example 2      It was 8:30. My brother had arrived 3 hours before.   Why does the first sentence use past simple and the second use past perfect? I thought with "before" it was not obligatory to use past perfect. Is it because, in the first sentence, there is no logical relation between the bad things and the quakes? That is: the bad things did not cause the quakes.  In the second sentence, both events are compared. Is that why past perfect is used?
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If I have to write a causative sentence in Present Perfect, where should I put yet, at the end of the question or right after the negation?        She hasn't had her doors mended by the carpenter yet.    She hasn't had her doors mended yet by the carpenter.    Has she had her doors mended yet?      Could I say this:         She hasn't had yet her doors mended.    Has she had yet her doors mended?      Which is the right order, or are both acceptable?
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Recently, I came across this sentence "Before I'd had a chance to look at the letter, my sister ran up and pulled them out of my hand!" (it's in the book "destination B1 grammar &amp; vocabulary with answer key" unit 5 exercise F)   The word "Before" mean "my sister ran up" happened before "I'd had a chance" But the tense told me the opposite. Because "I'd had a chance" is in past perfect tense, so it must happened before "my sister ran up".   could you explain me why they use tense like that. and can I just use past simple tense in both parts of this sentence?
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In regard to this , my question is similar but that answer is not clear. I want to know why we use base form of verb, e.g. 'go' to form the past tense instead of past form such as 'went'?     Question: Did you go to a bank?  (Why we use 'go' here, rather than 'went'?)   Answer: I went to a bank.   Am I confusing verb forms with tenses? Please note that I'm not a native speaker so some clarification or reference on this would be helpful.
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As a non-native speaker but a teacher of the English language I've come across the following question reading a pupil's report: Should she use the simple past or past perfect in her sentence?     Last week we came back from a class trip to New York. We planned (OR) had planned that trip half a year ago.   (meaning: half a year before NOW)   Although we teach that ago is a signal word for simple past, I would go for past perfect here, since the action of the second sentence clearly takes place before the first one and before the rest of what the report is about (the class trip itself).  How would a native speaker put it?
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I'm interested to know why we use had better for recommendation. Technically we're speaking of an action that hasn't yet occurred. Like he had better leave a tip means he hasn't yet left a tip, but I suggest he do.    Why do we use the past tense had if it has nothing to do with the past? Why do we not use the subjunctive here? (He have better leave a tip.)
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May I ask what the logic is behind using present perfect/infinitive + present perfect in "present perfect + since + present perfect" sentences?     it has been a while since I have enjoyed a party this much.   and     It's been a long time since I have read an interesting book.   Why is it not present perfect + past simple? I understand the "it's been" part, since it's something that is still relevant or going on. But if I'm referring to a specific past event, why should present perfect even be considered?  2) Also, I've seen people replace infinitive forms with present perfects:  "You must be surprised to receive a letter from me" = "You must be surprised to have received a letter from me"  Is there such thing as an infinitive present perfect? How is this construction possible?   Please help me understand!
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In this  (Using just Past Simple in the Third conditional) Michael Swan says:     262 if (7): other structures found in spoken English      4 mixed tenses   Sometimes a simple past tense is used with if where a past perfect would be normal. This is more common in American English.   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake.   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If I had the money with me I would have bought you one.   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If I didn't have my walking boots on I think I would have really hurt my foot.   However, Swan does not give examples for the verb to be case. I wonder if American speakers -informally- also use the past simple for verb to be too in counterfactual (unreal) past situations.  It seems that this thought is possible in theory. There is this quote for an Australian speaker on      It's likely a police officer who was shot at a Sydney hospital would   have died if he wasn't in the emergency ward at the time.
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I know 'Did' is the past tense of 'Do' and if we want to  ask question in present tense 'Do you come?' and in past tense it is 'Did you come?'. Why don't we use 'Did you came?' as came is the past tense of come?
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Is it more natural to speak in simple past or past perfect when explaining past events to a friend? It seems like Americans use more simple past in everyday life than past perfect. I found this example online:     I had almost completed my essay when my computer suddenly crashed and I noticed that I had forgotten to save the document.   Is it wrong to say the following instead?     I was almost done with my essay when my computer suddenly crashed and I noticed that I forgot to save the document.   Maybe it's just my friends, but I rarely hear them speak in past perfect, so I'm really torn about using past perfect when it isn't necessary.
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I have been there first time.   The reason why I think this might not be natural is that the expression "first time" seems to describe "past". You do not use the present perfect with an adverb indicating "past", in my understanding.  However, I feel the phrase below is not that funny.     This is the first time that I have been there.   I am wondering about the relationship between "the first time" and "I have been there". "That" could behave like a relative adverb. If that is the case, the antecedent of "that"—"the first time"—is shared with the following clause: "I have been there". Then, is it OK to say "I have been there first time"?  By the way, Google searches for "" and " in the UK domain show just 33 hits for the first phrase and 10 hits for the second.
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The simple past tense indicates that an activity or situation began   and ended at a particular time in the past.      The present perfect expresses the idea that something happened (or   never happened) before now, at an unspecified time in the past.The   exact time it happened is not important. It also expresses the   repetition of an activity before now. The exact time of each   repetition is not important.   Even though I understand the explanation above, I can't figure out: If the present perfect states the idea that something happened in the past, why not use the simple past?  For example, would you please explain the following sentence to tell the difference between these two tenses?         The plane crashed there.    The plane has crashed there.      What is the biggest difference between them?
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Which is correct to use in the following example, simple past or past perfect?        We were completely in the dark after the wind blew the candle out.   We were completely in the dark after the wind had blown the candle out.
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At the dentist's:     I was on time for my dentist's appointment, but the dentist was still busy with another patient, so I sat in the waiting room and read some of the old magazines lying there. All the while I was wondering whether to leave and come back another day .   Why past simple here and not past continuous? To me both actions are in progress they are not completed
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Why is 'present perfect' present if it happened in the past? And why is it 'perfect'?
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Are these two sentences grammatically correct?   Mona told me that London was the biggest city in England. He wanted to know where Manchester was.   I found these two sentences by chance in an exercise book published by Egypt's  Ministry of Education. Both sentences talk about a fact, and Is it unreasonable to change the verb tense in reported speech to past simple when what the sentences talks about is still true? (As my teacher and the books say.) Or is it right when we talk about facts to change the tense or is the tense change optional and  both are correct?
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What is the difference in meaning between the two examples below?   When she returned home from office, she was shocked to see that her husband and daughter were missing. (Simple Past)  When she returned home from office, she was shocked to see that her husband and daughter had been missing. (Past Perfect)    FIRST QUESTION: For me example #1 gives only idea of Status of her missing husband and daughter and example #2 gives idea of completed action/situation of missing husband and daughter before she reached home. Is this right? SECOND QUESTION: Is example #2 past perfect or past perfect continuous?