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PreciousJones Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

I had lived

I just recently moved away from California to another state. A new friend asks me why I moved away and I say:

I had lived there for more than 20 years, just thought it would be nice for a change of scenery.

Or

I lived there for more than 20 years, just thought it would be nice for a change of scenery.

Are both useable and which one is better?

Thanks!
  

Top answer

PreciousJones Are both useable and which one is better? You tell me. What have you learned about the past perfect?

— RandomGuy

  • PreciousJones Are both useable and which one is better?
  • You tell me.
  • What have you learned about the past perfect?
  • When do we use it instead of the past tense?
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5 Answers
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PreciousJonesAre both useable and which one is better?
You tell me. What have you learned about the past perfect? When do we use it instead of the past tense?
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I'd definitely go for past simple here... no need to use past perfect in my humble opinion.
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Aspara Gus PreciousJonesAre both useable and which one is better?You tell me. What have you learned about the past perfect? When do we use it instead of the past tense?
We use the past perfect when its describing a situation before another past event.

I feel like I should use the past perfect here, because it's before I moved away from California.
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PreciousJonesWe use the past perfect when its describing a situation before another past event.
Yes. The purpose of this is to make the sequence of events clear when necessary. The sentence is clear without the past perfect, so it is not needed.
PreciousJonesIt sounds better with past perfect as well.
I don't, but opinions d
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PreciousJonesI had lived there for more than 20 years, just thought it would be nice for a change of scenery.
This has the mistake called a 'comma splice'.

I would add 'so' to make the two parts sound more logically connected.

I had lived there for more than 30 years, so I just thought it would be nice for a change of scenery.
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