[Grammar] How many times did he watch the movie in all?

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comeng

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My friend asked me how many times he watched the movie in all.
Here is the sentence.
"When I watched the movie again last night, I had watched it twice."

I think it's twice. Because from the time before the past to the time when he watched the movie, "had watched" means a acumulated freqence. But someone says it's three, for before the past when he watched the movie he had already watced it twice, and now the past when he watched the movie he watched it again.

I think if it's three, the sentence should be "Before I watched the movie again last night, I had watched it twice."

What's wrong, if any, with my thought? And if there's any error or ambiguous part in the above first sentence, what would you suggest to make it a better one?

Thanks to everyone who'll answer
 

Raymott

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Yes, you're right. You'd need to know whether he was counting this time in the total. This could be easily fixed by changing 'When' to 'Before' or 'After'.
 

emsr2d2

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I agree entirely that changing "When" to "Before" or "After" would make a world of difference. My answer would be "Including last night, twice".
 

MikeNewYork

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The first sentence is odd. Why would your friend ask you how many times he watched a movie? It appears that your friend was telling you, not asking you.
 

emsr2d2

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The first sentence is odd. Why would your friend ask you how many times he watched a movie? It appears that your friend was telling you, not asking you.

Good point. I hadn't noticed but now I assume it should have said "My friend told me how many times he had seen the film in all".
 

comeng

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Oh, Thanks for telling me the right verb for the question sentence. I am poor at English. Honestly, I wondered if my question is right. However, though it's not quite a correct one, I thought it could express what I was trying to say.:)
 

comeng

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The first sentence is odd. Why would your friend ask you how many times he watched a movie? It appears that your friend was telling you, not asking you.

Oops, this is the first I post the reply. I have to post my reply again with quote.

Oh, Thanks for telling me the right verb for the question sentence. I am poor at English. Honestly, I wondered if my question is right. However, though it's not quite a correct one, I thought it could express what I was trying to say.:)
 

MikeNewYork

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Don't worry. The more you practice, the better you will get.
 

comeng

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Good point. I hadn't noticed but now I assume it should have said "My friend told me how many times he had seen the film in all".

Thanks for reply. Once again I've found there is a fault in my post. By "the above first sentence", I mean "When I watched the movie again last night, I had watched it twice." How do others say it in this case? "the above example sentence" or something else???
 

Raymott

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How do others say it in this case? "the above example sentence" or something else???
"The original sentence" if, as in this case, there is one.
 

comeng

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