A question about grammar
Hello everybody,
I'm doing exercises from one workbook. There is one task related to using of past tenses which has really confused me. Let me write it here:
Anne herself had also changed of course. The night before, she HAD STAYED in a hotel in Dublin and the receptionist HAD ASKED her "Have you been to Ireland before?" But what could she expect when her accent had almost disappeared?
I wonder why we are supposed to use "had stayed" and "had asked" instead of "stayed" and "asked"? Using of past perfect is suggested by keys but as far as I am concerned, a particular moment of time is mentioned in the text. So why can't past simple be used here?
Search from various English teachers...
Corrections · 12
1
had stayed - When you talk about past and want to say that the work ( stayed ) was finished ( you are still talking in past - So the time of reference is important here ).
You are talking about past and you want to tell that something finished even before that.
For example - Lets say yesterday I ate food but before that I had finished cooking food.
stayed - You are saying someone about something that was done.
1
Hi, Alexander.
Basically, perfect is used to indicate
1) time: something happens before a given time.
2) perfection: something has been done or has happened already.
Both have an underlying meaning: the thing happened or done has some close connection with the present situation.
At the same time, if you use the simple past tense, you are simply talking about something happened in a past time.
In the context you give, there are such several words: THE NIGHT BEFORE, have you noticed them? These words gives an earlier time prior to the particular situation, hence 'had stayed' and 'had asked'. And, as I mentioned above, the background occurence must have sothing to do with the present situation.
0
Thank you Robert for the comment! Sometimes a difference may be really subtle and not obvious, especially for a Russian speaker, as Russian and English languages are not similar with each other.
0
From the short excerpt, it does not make a difference which you use. However, we need the whole context in which it is said.
If someone told me, today, that "the night before she had stayed in a hotel in Dublin" then it implies that she is still in Ireland, but not in Dublin anymore. Therefore, you need the distinction if you are not present and would not know where she was and where she is.
0
Yes, it is clear now. Thanks!
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