indicates/describes the completion of a period of time

[Tony_M]

Hello. I need to give a short description of the tenses in this sentence:
- Kate and Harry had spent a few years living together before they got married.

Can I say that the past perfect indicates/describes the completion of a period of time before a single action in the past?

Thank you

 

[tedmc]

"Describes the completion of time" does not make sense. Time does not complete; an action/event does.

The past perfect tense shows the order of events/actions in the past, i.e. which came first.

The past perfect tense distinguishes an earlier action in the past from an action which happened later.

 

[Tarheel]

Hello. I need to give a short description of the tenses in this sentence:
- Kate and Harry had spent a few years living together before they got married.

Can I say that the past perfect indicates/describes the completion of a period of time before a single action in the past?

[..................... ]

It's the "few years living together" that indicates the completion of a period of time.

I'm not sure what you're trying to get the past perfect to do. What I do know is that I wouldn't use "had" in that sentence.

(Cross posted with @tedmc.)

 

[Tony_M]

What I do know is that I wouldn't use "had" in that sentence.

Good for you.

 

[probus]

You are right @Tony_M: the past perfect is the correct tense. However, @Tarheel is also right in a sense. At least here in North America many people don't bother to use the past perfect and substitute the simple past for it. Personally I dislike and avoid that, but it is a fact of current usage.

 

[tedmc]

Okay, the "before" makes it clear which event came first, so "had" is optional.

 

[emsr2d2]

What I do know is that I wouldn't use "had" in that sentence.

It's not grammatically incorrect though.

They spent a few years living together before they got married.
They had spent a few years living together before they got married.

The first is a simple statement of fact. I would expect the second to be followed by something else that makes the use of the past perfect clear.

 

[jutfrank]

Can I say that the past perfect indicates/describes the completion of a period of time before a single action in the past?

'Describe' is a very poor choice here. You're not talking about a description. 'Indicate' is much much better.

A better choice in my view is 'express'.

 

[Tony_M]

What about this one?
- Katerina Panos got married to Darwin Deason in 2008, and they'd spent 11 years together by the time they divorced in 2019.

 

[emsr2d2]

Katerina Panos got married to Darwin Deason in 2008, and they'd spent 11 eleven years together by the time they divorced in 2019.

That's the correct use of the past perfect. It's the "by the time" that makes it right. If you'd chosen "before they divorced", the past simple would have been correct.

... they'd spent eleven years together by the time they divorced.
... they spent eleven years together before they divorced.

Remember to write the numbers zero to twenty in full, not in digits (except when writing years or dates).