Past perfect vs past simple

[Intoarut]

Hello everyone: Imagine you're talking about your last holiday, "Last year I went...." Then you say, "I had decided to go to this place because..." Finally, you return to the present saying, "Now I wonder, if I made the right choice" or, "Now I wonder, if I had made the right choice"?? Which one is correct? And why? Thanks!
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[5jj]

Both had decided and decided are possible. I think that made is more likely than had made.

 

[Intoarut]

Thanks!

 

[KrissieWordLayer]

While I agree that you could use both, I would say "I had decided" is more grammatically correct because it is an action that happened earlier in the past
I went on holiday - past simple
but I made the decision to go to the place earlier so "I had decided" - past perfect

 

[Raymott]

While I agree that you could use both, I would say "I had decided" is more grammatically correct because it is an action that happened earlier in the past
I went on holiday - past simple
but I made the decision to go to the place earlier so "I had decided" - past perfect

I wouldn't call it more grammatically correct. For me, "I decided" would also be better than "I had decided" - and far more commonly used in conversation. There's no reason for the past perfect here at all, since it's obvious that one must decide where to go before one goes there.
They are both grammatically correct, and the simple past is stylistically better and more common in this context.

 

[Intoarut]

Both had decided and decided are possible. I think that made is more likely than had made.

My original (& in my mind, logical) option was:
"I wonder if I made the right decision." & "I wondered if I had made the right decision."
But the past perfect tense is sometimes confusing (in my opinion!) And I thought... why not...
"I wonder (now) if I had made the right choice (before going on holiday = before the past = past perfect)
Does this make sense? :roll:

 

[5jj]

But the past perfect tense is sometimes confusing (in my opinion!) And I thought... why not...
"I wonder (now) if I had made the right choice (before going on holiday = before the past = past perfect)
Does this make sense? :roll:

That's fine.

However, as the 'before' makes the sequence of events clear, we can, but do not have to, use the past perfect.

 

[Intoarut]

Thank you!