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Bartek Poland Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Multiple usage of Past Perfect in a one sentence. How to recognize which action took place first?

Hello,

I know that Past Perfect means "earlier past" and is used to clarify which action took place first in chronological order, but what when there are more actions in the past perfect that need to be specifically placed on the timeline? How do I know which action in the past perfect took place first? Here are some examples illustrating my concern:

  1. At around one o'clock, the busker had been playing the guitar for hours, but he hadn't earned enough money to buy lunch, so he stopped.

  2. When we found him, he had already fallen asleep. He had been waiting for us for too long.

  3. When I came to the beach, the lifeguard told me that she had been watching swimmers all morning, but luckily, so far nobody had been in real danger.

Thank you in advance.

  

Top answer

My response: By one o'clock, the busker had been playing the guitar for hours, but he hadn't earned enough money to buy lunch, so he stopped. When we found him, he had fallen asleep. He had been waiting for us for too long.

— Ann321

  • My response: By one o'clock, the busker had been playing the guitar for hours, but he hadn't earned enough money to buy lunch, so he stopped.
  • When we found him, he had fallen asleep.
  • He had been waiting for us for too long.
  • When I came to the beach, the lifeguard told me that she had been watching swimmers all morning, but luckily, nobody had been in real danger.
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2 Answers
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My response:

  1. By one o'clock, the busker had been playing the guitar for hours, but he hadn't earned enough money to buy lunch, so he stopped.

  2. When we found him, he had fallen asleep. He had been waiting for us for too long.

  3. When I cam

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I know that Past Perfect means "earlier past" and is used to clarify which action took place first in chronological order, but what when there are more actions in the past perfect that need to be specifically placed on the timeline? How do I know which action in the past perfect took place first?

Consider this example. By 2015, I had won an Olympic gold medal and I had,written a b

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