Past Perfect or Past Simple?

MagdaHi everyone,

Could you tell me which sentence is correct?

1. We had never seen a pine until we came to Florida.
2. We never saw a pine until we came to Florida.

Thank you

Definetely # 1

Iffy for # 2

Hi Goodman
thanks for your answer. Could you tell me why 1 not 2? Is there any rule for it?

Well, you have a process which precedes a moment in the past.

That generally calls for the past perfect. Simple past is tolerated in informal writing or conversations.

I see. Thanks, Marius.

Many of these choices turn out to be based on formulaic patterns, so that while both are correct, one pattern is generally preferred over another. One is "more idiomatic" than another. Here are some typical patterns related to your question.

... had never PP ... until/before PAST for what was never experienced before some point in time.
... never used to BASE FORM ...

Thank you a lot, CJ

Best
Magda

0 both sentence are correct!0-

0 Hi Magda02br
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00I'd say both your sentences are correct. There is a tendency in American English to use the past tense with 01i00always02i00 and 01i00never02i00, but the perfect tense is of course also right. (I do realize that in your example the past perfect is used.)02br
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00Examples:02br
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