I ever saw/I had ever seen

[diamondcutter]

I’ll tell you, there are a lot of crazy grown-ups at Ella Mentry School. But this was the first time I ever saw one of them actually go crazy, live and in person.

Ms LaGrange Is Strange! Dan Guntman

In the second sentence above, is it necessary to use “I had ever seen” to replace “I ever saw”?

 

[Tarheel]

No. The original is fine.

P.S. That's a clever pun. (Ella Mentry.)

 

[diamondcutter]

What about in BrE?

 

[Tarheel]

I think you would use "had ever seen" if you want to put distance between the speaker and the event. (See below.)

It was the first time I had ever seen that. Since then however, I have seen it many times.

 

[diamondcutter]

Talk about your first time taking a plane.

If I want to know someone’s travelling experiences, can I say all these sentences? 1. Talk about your first time taking a plane. 2. Talk about the first time you took a plane. 3. Talk about the first time you have taken a plane.

www.usingenglish.com

In #4 of the thread above, 5jj says we should say "Last summer I went to France by plane. It was the first time that I had taken a plane." The past perfect is used in
the that-clause
while for the sentence in the OP, Tarheel says it's fine to use the simple past in the that-clause. Is that a difference between BE and AE?

But this was the first time (that) I ever saw one of them actually go crazy, live and in person.

Last summer I went to France by plane. It was the first time that I had taken a plane.

 

[Tarheel]

Those are two different sentences. The patterns are not the same. I don't think you have found a disagreement.

 

[diamondcutter]

Could you please explain to me why the patterns are not the same? I'm not able to see the difference.

 

[Tarheel]

Yesterday was the first time I ever saw one of them go crazy, live and in person.

Last year when I went to France it was the first time I had ever flown on a plane.

The are a couple of important differences.

 

[5jj]

Yesterday was the first time I ever saw one of them go crazy, live and in person.
Last year when I went to France it was the first time I had ever flown on a plane.

The are a couple of important differences.

I don't see the differences Tarheel does.

I would use the past perfect in both sentences, though I am fairly sure that many native speakers would be happy with the past simple.

 

[Tarheel]

Well, there's a difference between "yesterday" and "last year".

 

[emsr2d2]

I would use the past perfect in the sentence in post #1. There is a definite difference between AmE and BrE on this point. It's cropped up many times on the forum.