The question regarding Past Perfect.In what situations do we use Past Perfect with Present Tenses ?
Hello guys.So recently I have read an article on CNN and got the sentence,"Europe's economy has grown at a stronger pace in 2017 than economists had predicted.
Why is it used 'had predicted instead of 'predicted'?
Actually,we are taught that Past Perfect can be used only with Past Simple showing that one action happened before another one.But there is no past simple tense in the current example.

Question

The question regarding Past Perfect.In what situations do we use Past Perfect with Present Tenses ?
Hello guys.So recently I have read an article on CNN and got the sentence,"Europe's economy has grown at a stronger pace in 2017 than economists had predicted.
Why is it used 'had predicted instead of 'predicted'?
Actually,we are taught that Past Perfect can be used only with Past Simple showing that  one action happened before another one.But there is no past simple tense in the current example.

Answer

It is possible to use the past perfect with the present perfect too, like in this case.  The growth has been in 2017 (till now). But the prediction of this growth was before 2017.

You could also have said "predicted" (past simple) in this sentence because it doesn't matter very much whether we consider the prediction as having taken place at a finished time some time in the past (past simple), or before 2017 (past perfect).

Answer

Europe's economy has grown at a stronger pace in 2017 than economists had predicted.
Europe's economy has grown at a stronger pace in 2017 than economists predicted.
You could say it either way, but it sounds more formal if you say "had predicted."

Answers · 2

Still haven’t found your answers?

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!