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Cavalier King Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Is there any difference between the sentences?

You were dressed beautifully...
You had dressed beautifully...
  

Top answer

You were dressed beautifully. (passive voice; the focus is on what she/he wore) You (had) dressed beautifully. (active voice; the focus is not only on what she/he wore but on the effort (of dressing) itself) Note that the use of the past perfect suggests some prior time; that is you need some further context to justify its use.

  • You were dressed beautifully.
  • (passive voice; the focus is on what she/he wore) You (had) dressed beautifully.
  • (active voice; the focus is not only on what she/he wore but on the effort (of dressing) itself) Note that the use of the past perfect suggests some prior time; that is you need some further context to justify its use.
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4 Answers
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You were dressed beautifully. (passive voice; the focus is on what she/he wore)

You (had) dressed beautifully. (active voice; the focus is not only on what she/he wore but on the effort (of dressing) itself)

Note that the use of the past perfect suggests some prior time; that is you need some further context to justify its use.
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Thanks for your reply. However, I couldn't get "but on the effort (of dressing) itself)". Would you kindly elaborate?
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It means that whoever said that sentence thought that she must have put a lot of effort to dress like that.
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The difference is in the time depicted. The first sentence is past tense and depicts the state of dress at the time in the past being talked about. For example: You were beautifully dressed at that party.

The second sentence is past perfect and depicts a situation that has already been completed at the time in the past being talked about. For example: You had dressed beautifully for

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