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Lincoln based lads John and Kevin had known for a long time having been to school together. They had bought guitars at around 15 and practised together in kevin's flat

After a while they stopped playing together........

could you explain me why we dont use past perfect for all verbs in the first paragraph and not only for know and buy but also for practise ; The reference for the first paragraph is when they were living in Lincoln.so practise should be in past perfect .Am I wrong ?
Or may be they were still practising when they were living in Lincoln ?

Thanks to give me a clear answer

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

'Had' is understood for the 2nd half of the compound verb: 'had bought...and practiced.'

Anonymous · Answer

thank you for your answer
But I was just wondering if the reference is after a while........
if it is, shall we write
John and kevin were based in Lincoln, they had known for a long time because they had gone to school together.They bought guitar and they had practised together in Kevin's flat.

After a while they stopped playing together

If I write this does that means that they were still living in lincoln when they practised and after when they stopped.I think so
and if I write that John and Kevin had been based......... That means that they did not live in Lincoln anymore when they
stopped playing . Am I right?

thanks for your answer

Mister Micawber · Answer

Anonymousif I write that John and Kevin had been based......... That means that they did not live in Lincoln anymore when they stopped playing

Insofar as I can understand the disorganized presentation of your post, it says nothing about their location when they stopped playing.

Anonymous · Answer

Sorry I sent my reply before I finished it.
So I would like to know if there is a difference of meaning if

I write John and Kevin were based . They had known for a long time because they had gone to school together. They had bought guitar and had practised together in Kevin's flat..
After a while they stopped playing

or John and Kevin had been based. They had known for a long time because they had gone to school together.
They had bought guitar and had practised together in Kevin's flat.
After a while they stopped playing

Hope my post is more organised and thanks for your answer

Mister Micawber · Answer

What does 'based' mean?  Your sentences have many more important problems than past perfect verbs.

Anonymous · Answer

Please let me know the problem you have seen in my text.In fact I tried to rewrite the first text , but may be the very first one had also some mistakes

Anyway thank you for taking time to answer

Mister Micawber · Answer

I still need to know what 'based' means.

Kemsoi · Answer

because they stopped playing together, so their action which is relevant to guitar belonged to the past

Anonymous · Answer

based means lived, I suppose, cause in fact it is not me who wrote the very first text , I tried to rewrite the way I understood it .
I was wondering if I wrote John and Kevin were living in Lincoln is it different meaning that John and Kevin had
lived . I Thought that in the first case they were still living after they stopped playing because we have simple past .and in the second case we have past perfect which means to me that they left Lincoln before they stopped playing . May be as they moved they could not play.

Mister Micawber · Answer

AnonymousI was wondering if I wrote John and Kevin were living in Lincoln is it different meaning that John and Kevin had lived .

Well, if that is your only question, then 'Yes'.

Past progressive ('were living') normally represents an ongoing action during which another past action occurred: They were living in Lincoln when they bought the guitar.
Past perfect ('had lived') normally represents the earlier of two stated past actions: They had lived in Lincoln for 3 years when they bought the guitar.

Does that help? I still cannot disentangle the text you posted.

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