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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Do I need to put two 'had' in 1 sentence?

She had noticed the way he would look hurt when she had distanced herself away from him.

Do I need two 'had' here?

thanks

<<edited to try to adjust the whacky formatting>>
  

Top answer

To answer to question directly, you can remove the first 'had' in your sentence. But I think there are other mistakes. What do you mean by 'noticed the way he would look hurt'?

— Iris_es

  • To answer to question directly, you can remove the first 'had' in your sentence.
  • But I think there are other mistakes.
  • What do you mean by 'noticed the way he would look hurt'?
  • I couldn't understand that.
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5 Answers
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To answer to question directly, you can remove the first 'had' in your sentence. But I think there are other mistakes. What do you mean by 'noticed the way he would look hurt'? I couldn't understand that.
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AnonymousShe had noticed the way he would look hurt when she had distanced herself away from him.

Do I need two 'had' here? If the sentence is standing alone, you don't need either of them.

"the way he would look hurt" = his habit of looking offended
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Hi Anon

In your sentence, the necessity for the past perfect (both usages) would depend on the broader context. Is your sentence part of a narrative? Or did you write it as a stand-alone sentence?

By the way, I would suggest omitting the word "away". To me, it's completely unnecessary.
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It's part of a story, but I'm writing about a situation in the character's past, before the present story is taking place.
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I would write the sentence this way:

She noticed the way he would look hurt when she distanced herself from him.

There might be some context where the past perfect would be OK, but I have not been able to construct a plausible scenario.
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