1 Sentence--Past Perfect

Question

Although the sentence sounds right and I did read it off an authoritive English grammar site, I still wonder why the past perfect 'had been' is used when it happens at the same time as 'were at University'.

We had been good friends since we were at University.

Can you explain why the past perfect is used and why it is not written as below?

We were good friends since we were at University.

Thank you

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

I can't tell you why 'had been' in the main clause-- there must be further context-- but as for the dependent clause, we normally stick to past simple (or progressive).  One past perfect per complex sentence is enough.

English 1b3 · Answer

Thanks for your response.

There was no more context. This is it. It was discussing the tenses used when dealing with time adverbial clauses, so I assumed they had it right.

So based on the context, my re-write is the correct version, right?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Well, no, 1b3-- if these are just sample sentences of some sort, with no other context, we cannot say that 'we had been...since we were' is wrong at all. It is a perfectly good structure, but in the real language it needs some sort of contextual rationale for its use: that is a peculiarity of the past perfect.

On the other hand, your sentence ('we were...since we were') is OK, but without further context (evidence of the end of the friendship), it too is not necessarily right.

Actually, standing alone as it does, the sentence I would expect is 'we have been...since we were'. However, that too requires some sort of evidence that the friendship still obtains.

This is why we often cannot judge or why we misjudge sentences presented to us here at EF. Often, there is no 'right' or 'wrong' to an isolated utterance.

1 Sentence--Past Perfect

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions