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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Am I writing this correctly?

Im writing a short story and I was wondeirng if I need to use the 'had' in the following passage:

She felt it was necessary to distance herself form him. She had seen how upset he looked when she told him the bad news. The last thing she wanted to do was to upset him again.

Is this right?

Thank you in advance.
  

Top answer

Anonymous Im writing a short story and I was wondeirng if I need to use the 'had' in the following passage: She felt it was necessary to distance herself form him. She had seen how upset he looked when she told him the bad news. The last thing she wanted to do was to upset him again.

— Goodman

  • Anonymous Im writing a short story and I was wondeirng if I need to use the 'had' in the following passage: She felt it was necessary to distance herself form him.
  • She had seen how upset he looked when she told him the bad news.
  • The last thing she wanted to do was to upset him again.
  • Is this right?
  • --- Thank you in advance.
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5 Answers
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AnonymousIm writing a short story and I was wondeirng if I need to use the 'had' in the following passage:

She felt it was necessary to distance herself form him. She had seen how upset he looked when she told him the bad news. The last thing she wanted to do was to upset him again.

Is this right? ---

Thank you in advance.
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Oh ok, so there are 2 events going on? One before the other? In this case, she telling him the bad news and then his reaction afterwards?
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Anonymousso there are 2 events going on? One before the other? In this case, she telling him the bad news and then his reaction afterwards?
She tells the bad news first, then he reacts. This is true, but irrelevant to the use of the past perfect.

In the sentence you quoted, the past perfect shows that her seeing him looking upset happened before she
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So past perfect does not only show one event happening before the other, but also shows order of events as well, like:

I had given her many chances in the past. I don't want to do it anymore.
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Anonymousalso shows order of events as well
Yes, but in your example it's unnecessary. The present perfect goes with the present. The past perfect goes with the past.


I have given her many chances. I don't want to do it anymore.
I had given her many chances. I didn't want to do it anymore.

But in both of these, the
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