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Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
The tense simplification
This novel is set in a Chinese village before World War One.
The protagonist lives with his father.
Today is the wedding day of Wang Lung.
He left his upper body bare until he had heated water to bathe himself. He went into the shed which was the kitchen, leaning against the house.............................
He went around the oven to the rear, and selecting a handful of the dry grass and stalks standing in the corner of the kitchen, he arranged it delicately in the mouth of the oven, making the most of every leaf. Then from an old flint and iron he caught a flame and thrust it into the straw and there was a blaze.
[The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck]
I'd like to know if "he had heated" means "he would have heated."
Thank you in advance for your help.
The protagonist lives with his father.
Today is the wedding day of Wang Lung.
He left his upper body bare until he had heated water to bathe himself. He went into the shed which was the kitchen, leaning against the house.............................
He went around the oven to the rear, and selecting a handful of the dry grass and stalks standing in the corner of the kitchen, he arranged it delicately in the mouth of the oven, making the most of every leaf. Then from an old flint and iron he caught a flame and thrust it into the straw and there was a blaze.
[The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck]
I'd like to know if "he had heated" means "he would have heated."
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
No, it is ordinary past perfect.
- No, it is ordinary past perfect.
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3 Answers
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Thank you, GPY, for your So Very kind answer. 
But the following sentence shows he is preparing heated water.
So I was
But the following sentence shows he is preparing heated water.
So I was
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park sang joonBut the following sentence shows he is preparing heated water.So I was wondering how the past perfect tense is used in expressing a later event than the following sentence.Within the sentence, the past perfect is jusfified by "until", which anticipates the result, even though the narrative then goes on to explain how the result comes about. I ag
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