Learn English – Difference between Simple Past and Past Perfect

backshiftingpast-perfectperfect-constructions

What is the difference in meaning between the two examples below?

  1. When she returned home from office, she was shocked to see that her husband and daughter were missing. (Simple Past)

  2. 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?

Best Answer

The difference is that your Sentence 1 expresses a complete thought.

But your Sentence 2 is incomplete (expresses an incomplete thought). For Sentence 2 to be complete, you need to specify some time in the past that is previous to the time that the subject she returned home. For example:

Sentence 3

When she returned home from the office, she was shocked to see that her husband and daughter had been missing since noon or since Tuesday or for an hour or for a month.

All four of these past times are previous to the time the subject she returned home.

Unless you specify some past time, the sentence is incomplete in thought.

And yes, had been missing is past perfect continuous.

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