Past simple or past perfect?
Past SimpleThe past simple describes an event that happened in the past, which has ended.
It is used when there is an adverb of definite past time in the sentence.
Were is used for all persons to show non-objective facts.
I wish I were a bit older, so that I could start a career as a reporter.
There are many irregular forms of the past tense.
Past Perfect
The past perfect indicates an order of events that happened in the past. The event in the past perfect tense precedes the event in the simple past tense.
After he had read the paper, he wrote a letter to the editor.
She said she had tried to get a definite answer from him on the phone.
They admitted that we had arrived on time to attend the press conference.