Past Perfect or Past Simple

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Dante2402

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Hello!
I am sorry for bothering you again!
But I need a help.
Can I use in the following sentence "When I had done my homework yesterday, I quickly ran to the yard, because my friends were waiting for me there" the past simple?
I mean can I say "When I did my homework yesterday, I quickly ran to the yard, because my friends were waiting for me there"?
 

5jj

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No. That would make it appear that the actions were simultaneous.

You could say 'After I did/had done ...' because the word 'after' makes the sequence of events clear,
 

Dante2402

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No. That would make it appear that the actions were simultaneous.

You could say 'After I did/had done ...' because the word 'after' makes the sequence of events clear,

Thank you very much!
 

emsr2d2

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Thank you very much!

Please note that you don't need to write a new post to say "Thank you". Simply click the "Like" button on any post you find helpful. This will save us all time. You don't spend time writing a new post and we don't spend time opening a thread to read a new post, only to find that it doesn't contain a follow-up question or any new information.
 

Dante2402

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I got stuck again:-(

Why do we use the past perfect, if there is the year (1884)?

"In 1884 Lewis Waterman had patented the fountain pen, giving him the sole rights to manufacture it."

The whole text: "In 1884 Lewis Waterman had patented the fountain pen, giving him the sole rights to manufacture it. This marked a significant leap forward in writing technology, but fountain pens soon became notorious for leaking. In 1888, a leather tanner named John Loud devised and patented the first 'rolling-pointed marker pen' for marking leather."

Maybe the author tried to emphasized the order of the events.
And can we use here past simple?

Thank you!
 
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MikeNewYork

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I got stuck again:-(

Why do we use the past perfect, if there is the year (1884)?

"In 1884 Lewis Waterman had patented the fountain pen, giving him the sole rights to manufacture it."

The whole text: "In 1884 Lewis Waterman had patented the fountain pen, giving him the sole rights to manufacture it. This marked a significant leap forward in writing technology, but fountain pens soon became notorious for leaking. In 1888, a leather tanner named John Loud devised and patented the first 'rolling-pointed marker pen' for marking leather."

Maybe the author tried to emphasized the order of the events.
And can we use here past simple?

Thank you!

I would not have used the past perfect tense there. I would have used the simple past.
 

bhaisahab

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I would not have used the past perfect tense there. I would have used the simple past.

I should think it depends on the wider context. Taking one sentence in isolation is not ideal.
 

MikeNewYork

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I should think it depends on the wider context. Taking one sentence in isolation is not ideal.

I agree, but I don't like the past perfect with "in 1984"
 

Dante2402

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Thanks!
I found that text in the grammar book and I was confused, but I have just found the rule about how to use the past perfect.
We can use the past perfect as the equivalent of the past simple. We use it when we want to narrate events looking back from a point in the past. Unlike the present perfect, the past perfect can be used with a specific time reference:

1. Ann and Michael have just got married.
It was June 1991. Ann and Michael had just got married.

2. Jane is now 28. She started working for the company when she was 18. She quickly climbed the career ladder and is now the youngest managing director the company has ever appointed.

Jane was then 28. She had started working for the company when she was 18. She had quickly climbed the career ladder and is now the youngest managing director the company has ever appointed.

Maybe in that sentence (post #5) we have the same situation?
 

bhaisahab

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Thanks!
I found that text in the grammar book and I was confused, but I have just found the rule about how to use the past perfect.
We can use the past perfect as the equivalent of the past simple. We use it when we want to narrate events looking back from a point in the past. Unlike the present perfect, the past perfect can be used with a specific time reference:

1. Ann and Michael have just got married.
It was June 1991. Ann and Michael had just got married.

2. Jane is now 28. She started working for the company when she was 18. She quickly climbed the career ladder and is now the youngest managing director the company has ever appointed.

Jane was then 28. She had started working for the company when she was 18. She had quickly climbed the career ladder and is now the youngest managing director the company has ever appointed.

Maybe in that sentence (post #5) we have the same situation?

Yes.
 
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