[Grammar] Past x past perfect passive

[Petra J.]

Please can you tell me if I can use both tenses in the following sentence and if so with what difference? Thank you very much.

This programme became very popular after the main presenter was voted/had been voted the most interesting TV personality of the year.

 

[Mehrgan]

Please can you tell me if I can use both tenses in the following sentence and if so with what difference? Thank you very much.

This programme became very popular after the main presenter was voted/had been voted the most interesting TV personality of the year.

***not a teacher***
Both are correct forms. When you use the conjunction "after" you needn't use the Past Perfect form. So, to refer to two events in the past while using "after" or "before" you can put both verbs in simple past.

 

[Raymott]

I agree. "was voted" is better.

 

[Tdol]

The past tense here connects the two events better for me- showing that being voted TV personality helped the programme become popular.