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Fuchsia Posted 7 years ago
Grammar
Simple past vs Past Perfect
Could you tell me whether there exists any difference between
a) In my youth my ambition was to be an inventor.
b) In my youth my ambition had been to be an inventor.
?
Thanks in advance!
Top answer
a) is fine as a stand-alone sentence. b) needs extra information — such as '... but I became a pharmacist instead'.
- a) is fine as a stand-alone sentence.
- b) needs extra information — such as '...
- but I became a pharmacist instead'.
- You always need a reason to use the past perfect.
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1 Answers
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a) is fine as a stand-alone sentence.
b) needs extra information — such as '... but I became a pharmacist instead'.
You always need a reason to use the past perfect.
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