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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Until with the past perfect

hello,

Can the following patterns be used and how are they different in meaning ?

'I had waited until they left.' and 'I waited until they had left.'

I always find difficulty deciding where the past perfect should go-before until or after until-because I see different cases especially when the negative or never is used.Could you help me with a simple rule?

Thanks
  

Top answer

There may be some rules but I don't recall seeing any. Common sense and logic should be enough. I can think of a situation in which I could say: I had waited until they left.

— Cool Breeze

  • There may be some rules but I don't recall seeing any.
  • Common sense and logic should be enough.
  • I can think of a situation in which I could say: I had waited until they left.
  • I waited until they left.
  • CB
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4 Answers
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There may be some rules but I don't recall seeing any. Common sense and logic should be enough. I can think of a situation in which I could say:

I had waited until they left.
I waited until they left.

CB
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Hi, I also have some questions concerning the until+past perfect form. (especially when "not" isn't used)

1. Until Harry cleaned his room, he was grounded.

past perfect implies a time lapse between one past event after another.

but these two events (clean his room/grounded) doesn't seem to have a time lapse between them.

Can I still use the past perfect
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I wouldn't use the past perfect. I would say: Harry was grounded until he cleaned his room.

CB
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Thx,

I guess the past tense in this case is less prone to mistakes ><.
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