Usage of past perfect tense

Question

Past perfect is used for an activity that was completed before another activity in the past.1. Completion My parents had already eaten by the time I got home.2. ExperienceUntil yesterday, I had never heard about it.3. ResultThe thief simply walked in. Someone had forgotten to lock the door.4. Time before a certain pastWhen he got home last night, he found that somebody had broken into his house.This is an explanation from a grammar book and I am confused with the # 4 because I also think that 'somebody had broken into his house' can be categorized as completion or result in the past perfect tense usage.And 'My parents had already eaten by the time I got home.' and 'The thief simply walked in. Someone had forgotten to lock the door.' also can be categorized as time before a certain past.What do you native English speakers think?Thank you so much as usual in advance.

GPY · Accepted Answer

Hans51can be categorized as completion

We view eating as an activity that lasts for a certain period of time and then finishes. We do not view breaking in in quite the same way.

Hans51or result

In (3), the theft is implied to be a result of the door not being locked. In (4), no reason is given for the break-in.

Hans51And 'My parents had already eaten by the time I got home.' and 'The thief simply walked in. Someone had forgotten to lock the door.' also can be categorized as time before a certain past.

"time before a certain past" applies (as far as I can think) to every use of the past perfect. "Completion", "experience" and "result" are additional nuances on top of this.

CalifJim · Answer

Hans51This is an explanation from a grammar book and I am confused with the # 4 because I also think that 'somebody had broken into his house' can be categorized as completion or result in the past perfect tense usage.

Brief general explanations like those in your grammar book are there to give you a general idea about usage. They are not designed to be absolutely precise. Very often in such explanations the categories overlap, and it doesn't really matter how you personally wish to categorize these uses of that tense. Your categories don't have to conform exactly to the categories given in the book, just as long as you get a little insight into how the tense is used. No matter how many categories they invent, there's always going to be another one you could think of, and there are always going to be cases where the exact category is uncertain or ambiguous. Don't worry about all that. The main point is to realize that the book is giving you some general information, and as you learn English, there will always be opportunities to expand upon that information with more examples and details. You will soon be beyond any need for that book, and you will realize that the book was only there to get you started thinking about these issues, and not the final word about that tense.

CJ

Hans51 · Answer

Thank you both so much. It is really helpful! And can I ask the last question about this?

By the time Shelia got back, Chris had gone.
When the police arrived, the thieves had run away.

One book categorized these sentences as Time before a certain past but I feel like those sentences can be categorized as another one, right?

And could you tell me which one is correct in each sentence? I think that both completion and result are possible.

What do you think?

Thank you so much as usual!

GPY · Answer

Hans51By the time Shelia got back, Chris had gone.When the police arrived, the thieves had run away.

Neither of these expresses a result. A result is when one thing happens as a consequence of another. These sentences are not saying that Chris left because Sheila got back, nor that the thieves ran away because the police arrived.

"Completion" is expressed in a weak way, in the sense that the actions "gone" and "run away" are completed. However, you could say the same about any use of the past perfect, so it is not "completion" in any sense that is useful for categorising these usages, in my opinion.

Usage of past perfect tense

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