[Grammar] I hadn't met her since we had broken up.

[sky3120]

Have you ever seen or used anything like the structure of these sentences? I know that "I haven't met her since we broke up." is correct, but I am not sure of the others.

1) I hadn't met her since we broke up or 2) I hadn't met her since we had broken up.

If the past form of "have met" is " had met" and the past form of "broke up" is "had broken up", I think that the #2 sentence is possible.

What do you teachers think? Thank you as usual and have a good day.

 

[Raymott]

Have you ever seen or used anything like the structure of these sentences? I know that "I haven't met her since we broke up." is correct, but I am not sure of the others.

1) I hadn't met her since we broke up or 2) I hadn't met her since we had broken up.

If the past form of "have met" is " had met" and the past form of "broke up" is "had broken up", I think that the #2 sentence is possible.

What do you teachers think? Thank you as usual and have a good day.

We generally only use the past perfect when is warranted. (You can look up the rules).
You can say, "I hadn't met her since we broke up until I ran into her in the market."
There are three events in the past: meeting her, breaking up, running into her at the market.
You can't use "I hadn't met her since we broke up" without some other event in the past that happened after breaking up. That event is supplied in my extended sentence (running into her).
2. is a sentence out of control.

 

[sky3120]

Thank you so much and you mean 2) I hadn't met her since we had broken up is not correct?

 

[Raymott]

Thank you so much and you mean 2) I hadn't met her since we had broken up is not correct?

Well, it could possibly be correct, but it's very convoluted. The use of the past perfect depends on the context more than most tenses do. If you can supply a context that warrants sentence 2. according to the rules of using the past perfect, then it's OK to use. It would be a very unusual sentence, and an unusual context, and almost everyone would choose to express it in some other way.

 

[sky3120]

The sentence is confusing because the form of "had p.p" can be from the past form of "has/have p.p" and the more past form of "past tense verbs". Don't you think so? I am sorry about taking your time.

 

[Raymott]

The sentence is confusing because the form of "had p.p" can be from the past form of "has/have p.p" and the more past form of "past tense verbs". Don't you think so? I am sorry about taking your time.

Yes, it's confusing, and I doubt you'd find it spoken by a native.

 

[sky3120]

No, I just imagined the sentence. Thank you and you agree that the form of "had p.p" can be from the past form of "has/have p.p" and the more past form of "past tense verbs".?