Could you please explain this sentence?

[hoangkha]

Hi!
I have seen the following sentence.
- They gave me four very bad tyres. One of them burst before I had driven four miles. (Thomson&Martinet)
I don't understand why the past perfect tense is used in before I had driven four miles.

Could you please explain it?

 

[5jj]

At the 4-mile mark, he could have said, "I have driven four miles".

So, anybody reaching the four-mile mark had driven four miles.

However, this poor chap had a burst tyore before he had driven four miles.

 

[chelsea92]

i also want to know about this sentence. could you explain it clearly ? please

 

[chelsea92]

could you explain this sentence ?

They gave me four very bad tyres. One of them burst before i had driven four miles

i don't understand why "One of them burst" tooks place before "i had driven four miles" but it is used as past tense and vice versa

 

[Barb_D]

Re: could you explain this sentence ?

This weird little bit of grammar has been discussed before, but I can't remember enough of the discussion to find the thread.

You're right. Logically, the tire burst BEFORE the four-mile mark, so it makes sense the the past perfect should go with the bursting.

However, we don't do it that way when when we want to express surprise that something happened before something else when that "something else" that SHOULD have taken place without incident.

She stopped me before I had even read a full sentence.
The tire burst before I had driven four miles.
The boxer expected to win was knocked out before two rounds had been fought.

Just file this in the box that says "Illogical parts of English" and don't think about it too much.

Welcome to Using English.

 

[hoangkha]

At the 4-mile mark, he could have said, "I have driven four miles".

So, anybody reaching the four-mile mark had driven four miles.

However, this poor chap had a burst tyore before he had driven four miles.

If it is rewritten as follows
- They gave me four very bad tyres. One of them (had) burst before I drove four miles.
Is it different from the original, please?

 

[Barb_D]

I have merged the two threads.


In the original: One of the tires burst before I had driven four miles -- The person never made it to the four-mile mark, because the tire burst and he couldn't continue.

In your revision: One of the tires had burst before I drove four miles -- The tire burst, but the person continued driving (at least) to the four-mile mark.

 

[chelsea92]

i understand your examples, it's very helpful for me. i have thought of it for several days
and I have another question that i can use it with present tense and present perfect tense in daily living when i talk to someone or only in past tense

for ex :

She stops me before I have even read a full sentence.
The tire bursts before I have driven four miles
The boxer expected to win is knocked out before two rounds have been fought​

 

[emsr2d2]

I understand your examples, it's very helpful for me. I have thought of it for several days
and I have another question - [STRIKE]that[/STRIKE] can I can use it with present tense and present perfect tense in daily living when I talk to someone or only in past tense?

For example :

She stops me before I have even read a full sentence.
The tire bursts before I have driven four miles.
The boxer expected to win is knocked out before two rounds have been fought.​

Please remember that, in written English, you must always capitalise the word "I" (first person singular pronoun). There are no exceptions to this rule. ;-)

 

[~Mav~]

*** NOT A TEACHER ***

Please remember that in written English, you must always capitalise the word "I" (first person singular pronoun). There are no exceptions to this rule. ;-)

This is a good, old rule. It probably came into practice before the wheel had been invented. ;-) (Obviously not, and I'm NOT mocking your instructive post! I merely provided another example of this kind of use of the Past Perfect.)

 

[Barb_D]

Actually, Mav, it's not a good example. In that case, it's simply "before the wheel was invented."

There was nothing about this rule that kept the wheel from being prevented. In all these examples, the second event never happened because of the first event.

 

[~Mav~]

Actually, Mav, it's not a good example. In that case, it's simply "before the wheel was invented."

I got this from Quisch (here is her post I'm referring to ), and I was under the (apparently false ) impression that it could work in similar sentences in a similar way. That is, something/somebody is so old that even the wheel had NOT been invented when that something/someone did something (be it about someone being born, something coming into practice, etc.), so to speak.

There was nothing about this rule that kept the wheel from being prevented.

Invented? ;-) I THINK that MAYBE the Past Perfect plays the same "role" here as it does in its "distancing" role in 3rd conditionals. (If only I could express this better. ) Edit: Or maybe it is - as someone put it at another help line -, "a disguised past perfect subjunctive". :up: Incidentally, this question reminds me of a recent discussion as to whether there is a difference between certain "as if" sentences depending on the tenses used after "as if". Eg. He talks as if he is/were rich. (To me, there IS a difference, but some insist they don't feel there's any.) Or, an even better example using Past Perfect, "He talks about Rome as if he had been there himself." I like that "disguised past perfect subjunctive" term.

Anyway, thank you for your correction.


PS: I think hoangkha and chelsea92 will find this discussion interesting. I did! :-D