Past simple/Perfect?

Question

1. I had had dinner before I left.2. I had something to eat before I left.Are both sentences correct? Why the person used Perfect in sentence #2?Can I say sentence#2 like this:I had had something to eat before I left?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

LeGion12359Are both sentences correct?

Yes.

LeGion12359Why did the person use Perfect in sentence #2?

2. I had something to eat before I left. Simple past tense, not perfect.

LeGion12359Can I say sentence#2 like this:I had had something to eat before I left?

Yes.

LeGion12359 · Answer

AlpheccaStarsYes.

Thank You.

AlpheccaStars2. I had something to eat before I left. Simple past tense, not perfect.

Sorry, I meant to say why didn't the person use Past Perfect there?
shouldn't it be like this:
I had had something to eat before I left, because the first clause occurred before the second in time?

Fivejedjon · Answer

As before makes the sequence of events clear, there is no need for a past perfect there, but it is not incorrect to use one.

CalifJim · Answer

LeGion12359Can I say sentence#2 like this: I had had something to eat before I left?

Yes, but that would be more appropriate if, in the narrative that led up to this, you had been focusing on something that happened later than your departure.

I left at the usual time, but the traffic was awful, so I got to the meeting late. But fortunately I wasn't hungry because I had had something to eat before I left.

On a time line, the events in the narrative go like this:

.......1....................................................... left
.................2............................................. traffic awful
.........................3..................................... got to meeting
..................................4............................ wasn't hungry
..5............................................................ had eaten something
......6........................................................ left

Note that where the narrative switches back in time, the past perfect pops up.

CJ

LeGion12359 · Answer

CalifJimYes, but that would be more appropriate if, in the narrative that led up to this, you had been focusing on something that happened later than your departure.I left at the usual time, but the traffic was awful, so I got to the meeting late. But fortunately I wasn't hungry because I had had something to eat before I left.On a time line, the events in the narrative go like this:.......1....................................................... left.................2............................................. traffic awful.........................3..................................... got to meeting..................................4............................ wasn't hungry..5............................................................ had eaten something......6........................................................ leftNote that where the narrative switches back in time, the past perfect pops up.

I got it, thank you a bunch Teacher, I loved the way you had explained it to me.
Yet a little confusion about Past Perfect due to this sentence :
1. Jane went to the zoo before she had finished reading her new book about elephants.
Can we say the above sentence like this without changing its meaning:
Jane went to the zoo before she finished reading her new book about elephants?
I think we can say it like that because 'before' clarified the sequence of events, What do you think Teacher?

CalifJim · Answer

LeGion12359Yet a little confusion about Past Perfect due to this sentence :1. Jane went to the zoo before she had finished reading her new book about elephants.Can we say the above sentence like this without changing its meaning:Jane went to the zoo before she finished reading her new book about elephants?I think we can say it like that because 'before' clarified the sequence of events

It's normal to be confused about this case. If the past perfect is used to indicate what happened before something else happened, it should always occur in the main clause when the subordinate clause has 'before'; it should always occur in the 'after' clause when the subordinate clause has 'after'.

He had seen the movie before he ate dinner.
He ate dinner after he had seen the movie.

Your example about Jane going to the zoo does not follow either of these normal patterns.

This is a special use of the past perfect with 'before'. It is used when the event in the main clause is regarded as interrupting an action expressed in the before-clause. So in Jane's case, she was reading her book, but she never got a chance to finish when she went to the zoo. There is also implied negation in the before-clause: Jane did not finish the book before she visited the zoo.

For more thorough discussions and speculations about the strange case of "before + past perfect", check out the following links.

CJ

LeGion12359 · Answer

CalifJimFor more thorough discussions and speculations about the strange case of "before + past perfect", check out the following links.past perfect in dependent clausebefore past perfect tense , past tense

Thank you once again, they really helped

Past simple/Perfect?

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