Before I went to bed...

RobotcreatorHi! Is there anything wrong in the following sentence: I had a cup of strong coffee before I went to bed last night, so I couldn't fall asleep.

Nothing wrong with the sentence. The practice of coffee before bedtime, however, isn't very wise

Actually, it is one of the exercises in my English textbook, and I neet to correct it...

First I though that it would be:

I had had a cup of strong coffee before I went to bed last night, so I couldn't fall asleep.

But it's not commonly said...

RobotcreatorActually, it is one of the exercises in my English textbook, and I neet to correct it... First I though that it would be: I had had a cup of strong coffee before I went to bed last night, so I couldn't fall asleep. But it's not commonly said...

I believe that "had had" is technically more precise....but it doesn't roll off my

Hi,

The sequence of events is made clear by 'before'. In such cases, the Past Perfect is often/usually omitted.

Best wishes, Clive

Thanks for your reply.

Is the omission of 'had' of 'had had' gramatically no problem?

Correct. No problem.

Clive