[Grammar] Since I started to study I had been looking forward

[Isobela]

Dear all,

I am struggling with choosing the right tense for the following sentence.

Since I started to study and had no time for my dog, I had been looking forward to the next phase of my life when I would have my own family and enough time to have a dog again.

Now the person already is in the next phase of life. It refers to the past. Is the past perfect correct?

Thank you.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It works for me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't agree.

 

[tzfujimino]

I think it means this:

"As/Because I (had) started to study and had no time for my dog, I was looking forward to the next phase of my life when I would have my own family and enough time to have a dog again."

Am I correct?

Thank you.

 

[Raymott]

I don't agree.

Is that all you've got? There are several propositions in Piscean's post. You don't even say which you disagree with.

 

[Raymott]

It doesn't sound right to me. You need to reference something after the action of the past perfect, as below.

[Ever] since I started to study and had no time for my dog, I had been looking forward to this phase of my life. Now I have my own family and enough time to have a dog again.

What you've written means the same, but it doesn't sound/read right.

 

[Matthew Wai]

"As/Because I (had) started to study and had no time for my dog ....

I think 'Since' there refers to a point in time rather than a reason. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Raymott]

I think 'Since' there refers to a point in time rather than a reason. Please correct me if I am wrong.

It could be either, but I don't think it matters in regard to the grammaticality of the rest of the sentence.

 

[Matthew Wai]

[Ever] since I started to study and had no time for my dog, I had been looking forward to this phase of my life. Now I have my own family and enough time to have a dog again.

May I add 'the start of', a past time point, before 'this phase', the present time?

 

[Raymott]

May I add 'the start of', a past time point, before 'this phase', the present time?

You could but it's not necessary.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I have no interest in getting into another prolonged disagreement with Piscean. I find the sentence to be workable. He disagrees. That's fine.

 

[Isobela]

Thank you all for your comments. I am afraid I am even more confused now.

The story is like this: The person is telling her story about how she had a dog when she was little. Then she went to school and had no time for the dog (but she was looking forward to the day when she would have one). After some time, she got herself a dog from a shelter. Today, she has already two dogs.

I think it is the 'since' that confuses me here...

So, please, tell me what tense I should you in that sentence. Should I really use "I was looking forward to the next phase of my life when I would have my own family..."

Thanks!

 

[Raymott]

I'd suggest breaking it into smaller sentences, as you have done above. Native speakers would generally not write sentences with three or four clauses when they're talking about their dogs.

 

[Isobela]

Okay, thank you, Raymott. But still, I am really very interested in understanding the use of the past perfect in this context. So would it be correct to write my original sentence with "I was looking forward" instead? Does it work with "Since"?

Since I started to study and had no time for my dog, I was looking forward to the next phase of my life when I would have my own family and enough time to have a dog again.

 

[MikeNewYork]

That is exactly how I read "since" in that sentence.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The starting to study is the later time point. The had been looking forward is the earlier point.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It still puts it an earlier point in time.

 

[Raymott]

For purposes of the past perfect, I believe that the 'since' clause makes no difference. That's why I said it didn't matter to the grammar whether it meant 'because', or 'after'.
"I did A, then I did B. Then, after I had done C, I ..." It doesn't work backwards. The past perfect (having done C), in this case, only affects the tense of what comes after, not before.

You can say, "After I had started studying, I had been looking forward to ..." This is still correct to me, if what follows is correct. (It's still awkward and unnatural, which is the main problem).

 

[Isobela]

And what about this sentence (I've found it in a book):

I had worn the same two tunic dresses since I started school and we were now half way through my third year!

How come that "I had worn" has the past perfect when the first point in time was "I started school"?

I hope I am not bothering you, but I would like to understand these structures...

Thanks

 

[Matthew Wai]

How come that "I had worn" has the past perfect when the first point in time was "I started school"?

If you are asking why an act in the past perfect could have happened after an act in the simple past, I think it is because of the time marker 'since', which has established the time sequence.