Incorrect use of past simple in Better Call Saul show

Question

Hi all

I've been watching Better Call Saul show and I've come across two sentences that seems to be grammatically incorrect:

1) I believe I did more than what you asked (had asked) of me.

2) You were speaking to a homicide detecive who flew (had flown) 2000 miles to investigate a double murder for which you are clearly the prime suspect.

To me, only the tenses in the brackets are correct and should have been used. Am I right?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

anonymousTo me, only the tenses in the brackets are correct and should have been used. Am I right?

No. The original sentences are fine.

Clive · Answer

Using the Simple Past like that is something that we constantly do in English. When a native speaker hears

I did more than what you asked of me. he understands this as meaning first you asked . . . , then I did . .

It's not wrong to say I did more than what you had asked of me, but it sounds rather formal, and using a lot of Past Perfect will mark you as a non-native speaker.

To sum up., we usually don't use Past Perfect when we think the meaning is clear without it.

eg Before I went to bed, I brushed my teeth.

eg The phone rang. I answered it.

eg I called him at 10pm. He died at 9pm.

Here's an example of where we might use Pasr Perfect.

eg Tom came home at 6pm. His wife cooked dinner. (Tom ate dinner at 6:30pm.)

eg Tom came at 6pm. His wife had cooked dinner. (Tom ate dinner at 6:01pm.)

Clive

Incorrect use of past simple in Better Call Saul show

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