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Past perfect V/s past

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Past perfect V/s past

by madddie » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:08 pm
I was going through some basic grammar rules when I stumbled upon these 2 sentences:---

She had visited her friend once in 2005 before she moved in with them in 2007.


She visited her friend once in 2005 before she moved in with them in 2007.

The book says if you use the words "before" and "after" with specific dates you can avoid past perfect....

Is it true.....Is it acceptable in GMAT

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by Ashley@VeritasPrep » Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:25 pm
Yes, I would go with the second sentence there. The sentence is in chronological order (we get the visiting the friend first, then the moving) so there's no need to go into past perfect to situate one event before the other in time. However, there's another grammatical problem with both of these sentences! If the pronoun "them" is intended to refer to "her friend," there's an agreement error, because "them" is plural while "her friend" is singular. (If "them" is not meant to refer to "her friend," then "them" HAS NO referent, which is problematic in itself.)
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by Ashley@VeritasPrep » Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:25 pm
Yes, I would go with the second sentence there. The sentence is in chronological order (we get the visiting the friend first, then the moving) so there's no need to go into past perfect to situate one event before the other in time. However, there's another grammatical problem with both of these sentences! If the pronoun "them" is intended to refer to "her friend," there's an agreement error, because "them" is plural while "her friend" is singular. (If "them" is not meant to refer to "her friend," then "them" HAS NO referent, which is problematic in itself.)
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GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep

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by sweety14 » Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:19 am
yes if sentences are in chronological order,no need to use past perfect.
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