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Nkspb Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

The Past Perfect before the Past Simple

Hi there! Emotion: smile

Help me, please. I have a sentence from a grammar test:

Bett had sprained her wrist and I had to write out her homework for her.

I thought that when we narrate an order of past events, we use the Past Simple for all the verbs.

Why is the Past Perfect used here before the Past Simple? Does it make the action in the Past Perfect more 'distant' in time?

I suggested that such a usage is wrong without an appropriate context (which might have been existed but not presented in the test).

Thanks for any answers!
  

Top answer

nkspb I thought that when we narrate an order of past events, we use the Past Simple for all the verbs. Yes. That's possible here as well.

— CalifJim

  • nkspb I thought that when we narrate an order of past events, we use the Past Simple for all the verbs.
  • Yes.
  • That's possible here as well.
  • ) Bett sprained her wrist, so I had to write out her homework for her .
  • However, the past perfect is OK too because the wrist-spraining happened before the writing, which happened in the past.
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21 Answers
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nkspbI thought that when we narrate an order of past events, we use the Past Simple for all the verbs.
Yes. That's possible here as well. (Note that I prefer 'so' for 'and'.)

Bett sprained her wrist, so I had to write out her homework for her.

However, the past perfect is OK too because the wrist-spraining happened before the writin
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Thanks. Emotion: smile
Interesting, why then do people use the Past Perfect in sentences like this, if the Past Simple works nice here.
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nkspbIs there slight difference between the two sentences?
Very slight. If you use "Bett sprained" there is only one span of time, and the only relationship between the clauses is that of sequence. This happened. Then that happened. There is no overt statement of any other relationship. The two events are given equal importance. It's a very simple story.
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I got it, thanks!) As I see, I could also say an isolated sentence with a perfect continuous verb like this:

"I had been listening to music, so I did not here you came."

Is it correct to say this? Thanks.
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nkspbI could also say an isolated sentence with a perfect continuous verb like this:"I had been listening to music, so I did not hear you come in."
Correct (as shown).

And also: I was listening to music, so I did not hear you come in.

CJ
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Thanks for the correction Emotion: smile

So, I guess, the Past Perfect can emphasize the action in a manner of the Present Perfect (havin
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Cool, I haven't read about it anywhere, so needed some proof Emotion: thinking Thanks!
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Nkspb,

Just to add a bit to everything that's been written above. The choice of the tenses here (the past perfect vs. the simple past) also depends on the point of time when you want to start your narrative. For example:

For months I wanted to read Dostoevsky's Demons and I finally found the time to read to the book.
In the example above, you start your narrative with
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Typo: "to read the book", NOT to "read to the book". Sorry, long day.
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