We were asked

When we had asked him for the update yesterday, we were asked (better: he asked us) to wait one more week.

User_garyWhen we had asked him for the update yesterday, we were asked to wait one more week.

You don't need the auxiliary verb 'had' in the pattern When X, Y or in the pattern Y when X, where X and Y are past events. If there is any way of seeing an order in the events, the X in the when-clause always comes first.

Thanks Califjm.

Then, do you mean all of these are incorrect?

Helen screamed when she had seen the rat.
Tom was very upset when he had failed the exam.
When I had asked for an update, I was told I had to wait another week.
When the Martians had landed, they went directly to Las Vegas for good time.
The doctor gave Larry the bad news

The first three are incorrect. The last two are possible.

In the first three, the two actions occur at the same time. In the last two, one action could have occurred before the other.

fivejedjonIn the last two, one action could have occurred before the other.

The doctor gave Larry the bad news when the blood test had come back from the lab.


Hi fivejedon


Here, we understand that the news was given only after the report came, and thus, should we use past perfect?

Hi CJ
Is past perfect OK here?

Their teacher had left for London when this mail arrived.

vsureshHi CJIs past perfect OK here?Their teacher had left for London when this mail arrived.

It's all right, but it could be improved by adding "already".

Their teacher had already left for London when this mail arrived.

The past perfect emphasizes the reversal of the usual time order.
(That is frequently the role of the past per

User_garyThanks Califjm.Then, do you mean all of these are incorrect?
Helen screamed when she had seen the rat.
Tom was very upset when he had failed the exam.
When I had asked for an update, I was told I had to wait another week.
When the Martians had landed, they went directly to Las Vegas for good time.
The doctor gave Larry the bad news when the b

CalifJimI would not label them "incorrect" because there contain no grammatical mistakes.

Well, I think that using an inappropriate tense is a grammatical mistake.

Helen was asked to go into the lab to look at the rat. She did so, and then came back into the office. The she screamed.
Helen screamed when she had seen the rat.

fivejedjonWell, I think that using an inappropriate tense is a grammatical mistake.

Well, I think that grammar is syntax, and that syntax is not semantics, and being an inappropriate tense is completely dependent on the semantic context, not on syntax (grammar).

As Chomsky once famously said, Colorless green ideas sleep furiously is syntactical