Can we use the Past Simple and Past perfect in these sentences?

Question

I'm little flabbergasted becuse of something I've fond in my grammar book (marked by `xs`):

Could you kindly explain me why they used this two tenses? Is this correct? Any differnces in using them in these situations?

GPY · Accepted Answer

"I had stayed in the hotel twice in the 1990s."
As usual with the past perfect, the event -- in this case the hotel stays -- will be further back in time relative to some reference point that is already in the past. For example, you have reached 2005 in a past-tense narrative, and now you want to momentarily go back further, to explain what happened in the 1990s. If the "further back" sense is not applicable then just say "I stayed in the hotel twice in the 1990s."

"We visited Switzerland four times during the 1990s."
Nothing special here, just the normal way of describing past visits.

Davyddiniz · Answer

VoytaszekCould you kindly explain me why they used this two tenses? Is this correct? Any differnces in using them in these situations?

I will sum up what your books says: Past perfect, in that case, can only be used to express something that used to happen before another specific time in the past, i.e.: One frequent action that happened many or a few times in the past and that happened before another period in the past.: I had gone to that club twice before it closed. - This one implies that you went there twice before it closed; it may have been one time each month or one time each week, I don't know; what matters is that you went there twice before a specific time in the past (before it closed).

Past perfect continuous implies one action that was ongoing: I had been on that club before it closed. - This one implies that you were there in the club before it closed.

We don't use either used to or would when we say exactly how many times in total something happened, how long something took, or that a single event happened at a given past time.

Used to and Would are verbs which refer to actions that used to happen in the past, but no longer happen. E.G.:

I would go to my grandmother house when my mother left to go to work - Your mom would always take you to your grandmother's house when she left to the work.

I used to play with my toys when I was a kid.

When can be used with "used to" and "would" because it doesn't mention a specific time. - I used to play with my toys yesterday/last month/.

CalifJim · Answer

VoytaszekI'm a little flabbergasted because of something I've found in my grammar book

You shouldn't be. There is nothing unusual there.

VoytaszekCould you kindly explain me why they used these two tenses?

They wanted to contrast the past perfect with the past perfect continuous in the first pair of sentences.
They wanted to contrast the simple past with expressions with used to or would in the second pair of sentences.

You can't illustrate the use of a tense if you don't write the examples in that tense. That doesn't mean that that is the only correct tense for the given example.

The sentences are all correct. I don't really understand what you think might be wrong with them.

CJ

Can we use the Past Simple and Past perfect in these sentences?

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