• Jo discovered that Leslie had lied to her.
We use the past simple rather than the past perfect when we simply talk about a single activity or event in the past: [Nós usamos o passado simples no lugar do passado perfeito quando nós falamos simplesmente sobre uma única atividade ou evento no passado:]
• I handed the letter to him.
• Sorry we're late, we took the wrong turning.
Notice the difference in meaning of these sentences with the past perfect and past simple: [Note a diferença no significado dessas sentenças com o passado perfeito e o passado simples:]
• When he stopped laughing, everyone left. (= they left after he stopped laughing)
• When he stopped laughing, everyone had left. (= they left before he stopped laughing)
• I got up when the phone rang. (= the phone rang and then I got up)
• I had gone to bed when the phone rang. (= I went to bed and then the phone rang)
When we give an account of a sequence of past events, we usually put these events in chronological order with the past simple. If we want to refer to an event out of order - that is, it happened before the last event we have talked about - we use the present perfect. [Quando nós damos um relato de uma sequência de eventos passados, nós normalmente colocamos esses eventos em uma ordem cronológica com o passado simples. Se nós queremos nos referir a um evento fora da ordem – nós usamos o presente perfeito.]
Study the use of the past perfect and past simple in this text: [Estude o uso do passado perfeito e passado simples nesse texto]
Don Jose was a wealthy Cuban landowner who emigrated to Mexico in 1959. The agricultural reforms had begun a few months earlier. He moved again in 1965 and made his home in the United States. He had made his fortune in growing sugar cane, and he brought his expertise to his new home.
We use the past perfect when we say what we wanted or hoped (etc.) to do, but didn’t: [Nós usamo o passado perfeito quando nós dizemos que queremos ou esperamos (etc) fazer algo, mas não fizemos:]
• I had wanted to visit the gallery before I left Florence, but it's closed on Sundays.
• Bill had hoped to retire at 60, but they persuaded him to stay on for a few more years.
Other verbs used like this include expect (to), mean (to), think (about + -ing).When we use a time expression (e.g. after, as soon as, before, by the time (that), when) to say that one event happened after another, we use either the past simple or past perfect for the event that happened first and the past simple for the event that happened second: [Outros verbos usados dessa forma incluem “expect to”, “mean to”, “think about +ing”. Quando nós usamos uma expressão temporal (e.g after, as soon as, before, by the time (that), when) para dizermos que um evento ocorreu depois de outro, nós usamos o passado simples ou passado perfeito para o evento que ocorreu primeiro e o passado simples para o passado simples que ocorreu e segundo lugar:]
• After Ivan (had) finished reading, he put out the light.
• When Carol (had) brushed her teeth, she went to bed.
But to emphasise that the second event is the result of the first, we prefer the past simple for both: [Mas para enfaizar que o segundo evento é o resultado do primeiro, nós preferimos o passafo simples para ambos:]
• She became famous after she appeared on the TV programme.
• When the teacher came in, all the children stood up.
With already and just (= a very short time before) we use the past perfect, not the past simple: [Com “already” e “just” (= pouco tempo antes) nós usamo o passado perfeito, não o passado simples:]
• The film had already begun by the time we got to the cinema.
• She had just stepped into her office when the telephone rang.