[Grammar] SINCE + simple past or SINCE + pluperfect ???

[atsoniaz]

Hi there!

Could you please tell me which of these sentences is correct and why?
Actually I think that the sentence "Nothing has changed since he met him" is correct but I need to use the past...

1) Nothing had changed since he met him.
2) Nothing had changed since he had met him.

Thanks a lot !!!
Kind regards.

 

[FreeToyInside]

You're right, "nothing has changed since he met him" is correct when you're talking about up till and including right now.

When talking about a point in the past, sentence 2 sounds correct. Because the simple past is used with the present perfect (hasn't changed since they met), using the same simple past with the past perfect sounds odd. Therefore, "nothing had changed since they had met" is talking about a time in the past that does not include the present, because something might have changed between then and now, like in "nothing had changed since he had met him, until they took a vacation together" (and since then, things have changed).

(not a teacher, just a language lover)

 

[philo2009]

Hi there!

Could you please tell me which of these sentences is correct and why?
Actually I think that the sentence "Nothing has changed since he met him" is correct but I need to use the past...

1) Nothing had changed since he met him.
2) Nothing had changed since he had met him.

Thanks a lot !!!
Kind regards.

#2

 

[atsoniaz]

Thank you so much !!!!

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you so much! [strike]!!!![/strike]

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[Raymott]

I don't entirely agree. Not everything occurring before something in the past perfect needs to be in the past perfect. Consider:
"Nothing in his love life had changed since he [had] left college - until he met Marie."
The two relevant events in the past are "nothing changing in his love life" and "he met Marie". Having left college doesn't need the past perfect.
"Since he left college, nothing in his love life changed until he met Marie." This gives the same information without any past perfects.
Putting the leaving college only in the past perfect - "Since he had left college, nothing in his love life changed until he met Marie" adds nothing.

I'm firmly of the belief that the past perfect should be used only when it's needed for meaning. And it's usually impossible to tell just from a short two-clause sentence whether the past perfect is needed.