Proper use of Past Perfect Vs Past Simple

Question

English is my second language. I've learned all tense rule. Problem is every day I'm facing a huge confusion between Past simple and Past Perfect.
According to grammar rule, we can you use Past perfect when talking about some point in the past and want to reference an event. But sometimes I notice people use Past Perfect sentence without any reference event.
Can you please give me some example with explanation and clear my confusion for a life time.

Answer 1

The Past Perfect is used to refer to something in the past that was already in the past at the time we are talking about. Although you may think of this as an event that may be misleading you.

For example I can say "I saw that the bus had arrived." The 'had arrived' indicates that the process of arriving was complete - so the Past Perfect is used.

Other examples could be:

• "I saw that nobody had finished." (The situation of nobody being finished was already in effect.)
• "I saw that the party had started." (The commencement of the party had already happened, even though the party was not finished.)
• "I saw that Rashedul had been confused." (The act of being confused had already taken place. This does not mean that Rashedul was still confused at that time, nor does it mean that Rashedul was no longer confused, only that Rashedul had been confused).

I hope this helps!