Past perfect simle with until

Question

Which sentence is correct?a. The judge hadn't sentenced the teenager until she listened to the evidence.b. The judge didn't sentence the teenager until she had listened to the evidence.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

b. is correct.

Karansardana · Answer

Why is choice a incorrect ?

Judge hadn't sentenced the accused until she heard the case out - this seems ok to me.

Does it not mean that judge waited to convict the accused until she heard everything out ?

To me the sentence means the moment judge heard everyone out, she made her decision, and sentenced the culprit.

Avangi · Answer

karansardanaWhy is choice a incorrect ?

I didn't exactly say it was incorrect.

a. The judge hadn't sentenced the teenager until she listened to the evidence.

It would be more natural to put them both in past perfect, but b) is best.

When both actions are in simple past, or when both actions are in past perfect, the tense alone cannot determine which action occurred first. We must rely on context.
But when one action is expressed in simple past and the other in past perfect, we get the impression that the one in past perfect occurred first.

In example a) there appears to be a conflict between tense and context.

Best wishes, - A.

Past perfect simle with until

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