Had not/Didn't

Question

Dear all,Vitali Klitschko was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He retired from boxing in the year 2013. In this context, I would like to know which of the following sentences is correct. I know that "had" is used as "past of past". Here Vitali retired from boxing in 2013, which is past. So I feel that the first sentence is apt to the context. I would like to get your valuable opinion on this.1) Vitali Klitschko hadn't knocked out or knocked down in his entire career.2) Vitali Klitschko didn't knocked out or knocked down in his entire career.Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

cat navy 425Vitali Klitschko hadn't knocked out or knocked down in his entire career.

The expression is "to score a knockout/knockdown".

Vitali Klitschko [didn't score / hadn't scored] a knockout or a knockdown in his entire career.

Both of these are grammatical as revised above.

Remember that the past perfect is a dependent tense. It depends on previous text in which a time in the past has already been established. Therefore, without that context, it is impossible to judge whether the use of the past perfect in a single sentence is appropriate. It is certainly grammatical, but that's not the same as appropriate.

Although you haven't framed it in the form of additional information in the same text, it seems from your commentary that you wish to use the boxer's retirement as the anchor point in the past. In that case, you would have something like the following:

Before his retirement in 2013 Vitali Klitschko hadn't scored a knockout or a knockdown.

My point is that you cannot rely on the reader knowing when or if Klitschko retired. To make sense of the past perfect, you have to include this information in your text.

CJ

Had not/Didn't

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