Past perfect

Question

On most websites that I visit past perfect is always used when there are two events, for example "She had dinner before she went out". Can it also be used for just one event for example "She had steak for dinner". Is that grammatically correct?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

aza1099"She had dinner before she went out"

That is simple past, not past perfect.

aza1099 Can it also be used for just one event for example "She had steak for dinner". Is that grammatically correct?

That is grammatically correct, but it is not past perfect.

When the order of two past events is unclear, past perfect is used:

She had had dinner when she went out (= She ate at home) VS She had dinner when she went out. (= She ate in a restaurant)

When 'before' or 'after' or another ordering conjunction is used, past perfect is unnecessary.

Laborious · Answer

aza1099"She had steak for dinner".

That isn't Past Perfect tense. That's a Past Simple sentence. ..

The verb 'had' is the past simple (the second form) of the verb 'have' in your sentence.She had steak for dinner means She ate steak for dinner (past simple).

aza1099Can it also be used for just one event

We can say things like She hadn't met him for years OR for example, They hadn't talked to each other for a long time in a real life scenario, for example where the context makes it clear that you're talking about something previously to something else, but even then, in that context, there is another past event which is understood or not mentioned. Here's a situation: Peter and Marry talked to each other after a long time. They hadn't talked to each other for a long time. (Here, the situation, Peter and Marry taked to each other after a long time, gives that another event in the past).

..

I hope that is clear to you now.

Past perfect

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