Past simple or Past Perfect Simple

I guess they are all wrong in the first place. "when" should be "after".

tarirotariHi, 1. When Martin had repaired the car, he took it out for a drive.2. When Martin repaired the car, he took it out for a drive.Is sentence 2 possible?How is the meaning different from sentence 1?Thanks

When as an introduction to a dependent clause generally has a meaning of "at the same time as the main clause."

When Martin went to school,

Hi,

1. When Martin had repaired the car, he took it out for a drive.

2. When Martin repaired the car, he took it out for a drive.

Is sentence 2 possible? Yes, and this kind of sentence is commonly said.

eg When the phone rang, I picked it up.

eg When the car hit him, he died instantly.



How is the meaning different from sentence 1? Us

Hi Clive:

I had quite some thought on this before posting my original answer.

Your examples were very natural, but they were for one action interrupting, or occuring nearly simultaneously as the other.

Although I would understand the sequence of events in the poster's sentences, and they are grammatically correct. the better conjunction to use (for me) would be "after

AlpheccaStarsThe 2 sentences in your question are not natural to me. I would use "after," not "when." It can be used with either the past or past perfect.

After Martin (had) repaired the car, he took it out for a drive.

Another two cents.

when is fine with the past perfect version. after is only needed in the simple past

tarirotari1. When Martin had repaired the car, he took it out for a drive.
2. When Martin repaired the car, he took it out for a drive.

Is sentence 2 possible?

Sentence 2 is possible and understandable, but it's not, in my opinion, the best way of expressing the thought. I have a definite preference for sentence 1.

CJ

Thanks everybody,

In fact this sentence is taken from a multiple-choice test and the correct answer is "had repaired", but now I see that this kind test can be "ambiguous" to say the least.

Thank you again.

I would go with "after" rather than "when" for the context given.

CalifJimAStars: Do you have any strong feelings about the use of "once" or "as soon as" in these patterns? That is, are they equally good as "after"? Or as bad as "when"?

Once / (as soon as) he had repaired the car, he took it for a drive.

These sound perfectly OK to my ears with the past perfect which "nails" the completion of the action (repair).

AlpheccaStarsOnce / (as soon as) he had repaired the car, he took it for a drive.

Thanks for the input on that. I had to think about it for a while, but I finally decided the same as you did.

CJ