past perfect "It had been a year construction"

Question

Hi everyone,

Recently I've been thinking about the following past perfect construction:

It had been a year since James left New York.

I suppose it's acceptable in colloquial English, but isn't it grammatically wrong? Wouldn't James have to leave New York first before a year can pass?

Wouldn't the following possibilities be more appropriate?

It was a year since James had left New York.
It had been a year since James had left New York.

Thank you for your help.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

It had been a year since James left New York.

I suppose it's acceptable in colloquial English, but isn't it grammatically wrong? No, it's fine. Wouldn't James have to leave New York first before a year can pass? He did leave NY first, and then a year passed. This sentence makes that clear to me. See 'B' below.

A. It was a year since James had left New York. What is at issue here is when we use the simple past and when we use the past perfect. Generally speaking, we use the simple past to describe a simple past fact, so that is how I would understand your sentence here. If you start with It had been a year since ... I am expecting you to go on and relate that to some more recent action or situation, in other words, to talk about one thing in the past before another thing in the more recent past. For example,

It had been a year since James left New York. Mary sat in her chair and thought about how much she missed him.

B. It had been a year since James had left New York. Yes, this is fine. However, the second past perfect is not necessary, because 'since' makes the sequence of actions clear. In such cases, The past perfect is often not used.

Best wishes, Clive

Chompipe · Answer

Thank you very much for your explanation Clive.

past perfect "It had been a year construction"

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