Hi Tim,

Yes, absolutely the past simple can be used without a reference to time. After all, we do not need to know an exact time to describe a past action. This is true too for the future simple.

And yes, that is true for ‘when I get it’, too, it is a phrase grammatically representing a time.

I wish to know if it is true that the simple past tense can be used (in speech or writing) without any time references and time adverbs/time adverbials? For example, can I write/say “I washed the car” to mean that my washing of the car happened (i.e. started and ended in the past) without including any specific time references/adverbials like “last night” or “last week” etc? So in other words, whether it be “I washed the car” (i.e. use of simple past tense without any time reference) or “I washed the car last night/last week etc” (use of simple past tense with time references), both sentences are grammatical and make sense? This could come about for instance when I have a specific time reference in mind, but simply choose not to mention it; or, I may not have a specific time in mind, but I know that the simple past event which I am referring to started and ended in the past; or perhaps I am simple referring to a completed period of time regardless whether the event has ended. Just wanted to know therefore if i encounter the above situations and use the simple past tense without the mention of any specific time reference, whether this is grammatically correct still?

Similarly, when it comes to the simple future tense (will or be going to), am I right to say that I can use it without any specific time reference? So for instance I know that something will happen in the future but am unsure or simply do not wish to mention the specific time, such as “I will send you the information” – use of simple future tense without any specific time reference.

Finally, referring to the following simple future tense example “I will send you the information when I get it”, am I right to say that the time expression “when I get it” means the same as a specific point in time such as “next week, next tuesday, or at 8pm”?

Sorry for the slow response; in this case they both work fairly similarly because we already have an indication of a past time, ‘when I looked at him’, which means ‘I’d seen’ or ‘I saw’ have to come before this. The past perfect helps settle that as a related past event (I’d seen = earlier), while the past simple makes it sound more complete/separate; this doesn’t make much difference at all with this example, but the past perfect would flow a bit better.

1.I found out someone broke into my house and stole my stuff.
2. i found out someone had broken into my house and stolen my stuff.

(What’s the difference here do they mean the same thing and what’s natural?)

3.My phone was lagging then I Found out someone went through my phone.
4.My phone was lagging then I found out someone had gone through it.

(What’s the difference here do they mean the same thing and what’s more natural.)

1.When I looked at him I Knew who he was because I’d seen him at the party before.

2.When I looked at him I Knew who he was because saw him at the party before.

Are these both correct and what’s the difference?

Thank you so much sir that helped me alot

Yes you’ve got the general idea there; there is nuance and the context can make a lot of difference. Without a specific time, the past simple can sound like past rules, e.g. “He was smelly because didn’t shower” may mean generally/always. “He was smelly on Tuesday because he didn’t shower.” would make it clear that we’re talking about that day, so the past perfect is not necessary. “He was smelly in the meeting because he didn’t shower.”, however, wouldn’t tell us if he didn’t shower generally, or that day, so “He was smelly in the meeting because he hadn’t showered.” would clarify that. But you could also say “He was smelly in the meeting because he didn’t shower that morning.” The past perfect might sound a little more natural there, as it adds clear sequencing, but essentially those last two examples wouldn’t be confusing.

The same principles apply to the other examples; it’s a question of how we can find the information needed to make the sentence clear, i.e. when did this verb occur in relation to the other verbs in a sentence. So for eating, “I hadn’t eaten” immediately tells us “before that past time”, but “I didn’t eat breakfast” might also clear that up; “I didn’t eat” would leave room for confusion.

On the last example, “what he did” could be interpreted as what he did generally (e.g. for work) so without other context the past perfect tells us it’s related to a specific action. Again, the nuance will come from context.

Sorry I don’t really have time to go too much into the specific examples here, as there is nuance, but simply in all these cases the past perfect would work well as it indicates a verb was complete at a certain time in the past (before the other verb in question). You might get away without it in some of these examples, and it could still understand, but in all these examples the past perfect would make the timing clearer so it would be best to use.

He failed the test because he didn’t practice/hadn’t practiced.
His car was dirty because he didn’t wash it/hadn’t washed it.
(What’s the difference and what’s more natural in daily life?)
His car was dirty because he didn’t wash/hadn’t washed it for 15 days.
(What’s the difference here with time duration?

Hey thank you very much but I still have doubts.
You said he didn’t shower would indicate he didn’t shower as habit? But don’t we use past simple more commonly for single action?
What would people think if i say
“He was smelly because he didn’t shower” would they think he didn’t shower as habit or he didn’t shower earlier that day and later was smelly? And If there’s more context and the listener know I am taking about specific action or something so am i allowed to use past simple then? More examples:
yesterday,He was hungry because he didn’t eat/hadn’t eaten.
(Here hadn’t eaten is more correct and natural is daily life? Can’t i use didn’t eat to indicate he didn’t eat earlier that day and later was hungry? Is Past perfect important here?) For example someone asks me
“Why were you hungry”
What would I reply?
“Because I didn’t eat or hadn’t eaten?”
And in 2nd you said both are fine So I can use past simple right? It would mean the same?
For example:
I didn’t know he stole/had stolen your money so I let him go
(Do they have the same meaning? )
“I didn’t know what he did/had done”
(Do they mean the same? Or is there any difference and what’s more natural?)
Sorry If i am asking alot but Past perfect seems very hard to me and confusing.