Usage of had

Question

Comsidering the following sentence,I had managed to get some loan from the bank so I didn't ask you for money.What if we change it to-I managed to get some loan from the bank so I didn't ask you for money.Does it make any difference now?Does here time can affect the tense?(  Say If the loan was managed a day ago or today or say a month ago?)I met with an accident a month agoOrI had met with an accident a month ago.Do they mean the same?

Prodigy · Accepted Answer

chalk trainComsidering Considering the following sentence.

Does Can time affect the tense here?

I met with I had an accident a month ago.

Hello, chalk train.

The usage of "Had" as an auxiliary to form the past perfect is exclusively used when you are telling two past actions and want to emphasize which one happened first, for example:

"I "had already left" the house when "he got" there."

The sentence above tells us two past events: "leaving the house" and "getting there"; both are in the past tense, how to know which one happened first? What if I had just said: I left the house when he got there?

What differences would it make?

- When I use "Had" in an action, I emphasize that this action happened earlier than the other action.

I left the house when he got there - means that I left the house exactly when he got there, i.e.: two simultaneous actions; however, I had already left the house when he got there - means that when he got in the house, I wasn't there, I left it before he got there.

Understand the differences now? So, in your sentences, if you use the past perfect in: "I had managed to get some..", you will emphasize that this action occurred before "I didn't ask you for money."

Nonetheless! Since "before" already implies such a thing, sometimes, "Had" isn't necessary with a "Before" Adverbial Clause, for example:

I talked to her before he got there.

I had talked to her before he got there.

Both mean exactly the same thing.

CalifJim · Answer

chalk trainI had managed to get some loan from the bank so I didn't ask you for money.

This makes the sequence of events clear through the use of tenses.

chalk trainI managed to get some loan from the bank so I didn't ask you for money.

This is clear from the logic of the situation.

chalk trainIf the loan was managed a day ago or today or say a month ago?

That makes no difference.

chalk trainI ~~met with~~ [had / was involved in] an accident a month ago

Fine as shown.

chalk trainI had ~~met with~~ [had / been involved in] an accident a month ago.

Not possible. Change 'a month ago' to 'a month previously' or 'a month before (that)'.

CJ

Usage of had

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