Past perfect
"He made the mistake of sending his troops through Belgium, which had declared itself neutral when the fighting began."
I saw this in a documentary and was wondering why the narrator hadn't used "when the fighting had begun". Could I possibly use both?
Top answer
Necrophagist I saw this in a documentary and was wondering why the narrator hadn't used "when the fighting had begun". Could I possibly use both? It is common not to write a series of past perfect clauses.
- Necrophagist I saw this in a documentary and was wondering why the narrator hadn't used "when the fighting had begun".
- Could I possibly use both?
- It is common not to write a series of past perfect clauses.
- The first past perfect orients the reader to the time frame sufficiently so that the simple past in any following clauses related to the first can safely be placed in the simple past without causing confusion.
- So yes, you could use both, but that would not be considered the best idea in terms of style.
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NecrophagistI saw this in a documentary and was wondering why the narrator hadn't used "when the fighting had begun". Could I possibly use both?
It is common not to write a series of past perfect clauses. The first past perfect orients the reader to the time frame sufficiently so that the simple past in any following clauses related to the first can safely
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