It happened 13 years ago. You and I went on an outing together with two friends of ours to Muar. But they left after we had celebrated my won of a two-hundred-ringgit prize. I still can vividly remember the moment while I was following you on our way to a bookstore. Walking behind you, I looked at your neck and sort of tried to fall in love with you. I don’t know why I tried. Now, 13 years have passed. But I am still deeply in love with you and that love has brought me pain since then
(1) But they left after we celebrated my won of a two-hundred-ringgit prize.
(2) But they left after we had celebrated my won of a two-hundred-ringgit prize.
Are both of the sentences correct? If they are, are they completely the same?
They both sound correct to my non-native ears. But we use past perfect tense to talk about something that had happened before something that happened in the past.
This is very important for me. Thank you for your help.
my win, not my won. Both tenses are correct. But we commonly use just Simple Past if the sequence of events is clear.
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my win, not my won.
Both tenses are correct. But we commonly use just Simple Past if the sequence of events is clear. Words like 'after' make the sequence clear.
(1) But they left after we celebrated my win of a two-hundred-ringgit prize.
(2) But they left after we had celebrated my win of a two-hundred-ringgit prize.
This is better. "Had" is optional. There is no difference in meaning.
But they left after we (had) celebrated my winning a prize of two hundred ringgits.