past perfect vs simple past tense!!

Can you clarify this one as well please?

I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods.
I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods.

mehravikas wrote:Can you clarify this one as well please?

I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods.
I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods.

I'd go with door #2.

Saying they "had believed" in many gods suggests that their beliefs have changed, i.e. at some point in time they stopped believing in many gods.

but "thought" is in past tense, if we need to indicate an action that happened before that shouldn't we use "had"

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

mehravikas wrote:Can you clarify this one as well please?

I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods.
I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods.

I'd go with door #2.

Saying they "had believed" in many gods suggests that their beliefs have changed, i.e. at some point in time they stopped believing in many gods.

mehravikas wrote:but "thought" is in past tense, if we need to indicate an action that happened before that shouldn't we use "had"

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

mehravikas wrote:Can you clarify this one as well please?

I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods.
I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods.

I'd go with door #2.

Saying they "had believed" in many gods suggests that their beliefs have changed, i.e. at some point in time they stopped believing in many gods.

Some verbs (that indicate continuous actions) act strangely.

"always thought", for example, doesn't describe a discrete action in the past. "Believe" also indicates a continuous action.

I guess that a better way to think of it is that either version could be correct, but they have different meanings:

"I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods" implies that ancient peoples stopped believing in many gods.

"I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods" implies that they never lost that belief.

Can someone explain why in which is used instead of "when"

So am I correct if I say - you have to understand the question logically to check whether past perfect would fit in the sentence.

For example, both forms of the sentences, that we are discussing, are correct. it depends on what is the context of the sentence.

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

mehravikas wrote:but "thought" is in past tense, if we need to indicate an action that happened before that shouldn't we use "had"

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

mehravikas wrote:Can you clarify this one as well please?

I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods.
I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods.

I'd go with door #2.

Saying they "had believed" in many gods suggests that their beliefs have changed, i.e. at some point in time they stopped believing in many gods.

Some verbs (that indicate continuous actions) act strangely.

"always thought", for example, doesn't describe a discrete action in the past. "Believe" also indicates a continuous action.

I guess that a better way to think of it is that either version could be correct, but they have different meanings:

"I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods" implies that ancient peoples stopped believing in many gods.

"I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods" implies that they never lost that belief.

Yeah, with the past perfect tense, you would only use it if there is any ambiguity about when something occurred. With historical events like the one in the sentence, the order of the events is clear.

mehravikas wrote:So am I correct if I say - you have to understand the question logically to check whether past perfect would fit in the sentence.

For example, both forms of the sentences, that we are discussing, are correct. it depends on what is the context of the sentence.

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

mehravikas wrote:but "thought" is in past tense, if we need to indicate an action that happened before that shouldn't we use "had"

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

mehravikas wrote:Can you clarify this one as well please?

I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods.
I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods.

I'd go with door #2.

Saying they "had believed" in many gods suggests that their beliefs have changed, i.e. at some point in time they stopped believing in many gods.

Some verbs (that indicate continuous actions) act strangely.

"always thought", for example, doesn't describe a discrete action in the past. "Believe" also indicates a continuous action.

I guess that a better way to think of it is that either version could be correct, but they have different meanings:

"I always thought that ancient peoples HAD BELIEVED in many gods" implies that ancient peoples stopped believing in many gods.

"I always thought that ancient peoples BELIEVED in many gods" implies that they never lost that belief.

Even though this is an old thread, I hope to get an answer for this OG problem, #70.

Why the bold text " ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas" is correct?

Are these bold expressions correct?
" ice sheets had existed in now..."
" ice sheets existed where there were..."
" ice sheets had existed in current temperate..."
" ice sheets existed in areas ..."

Regarding the usage of "in which" and "when", they can be used interchangeably. According to MGMAT SC "the pronoun when can be used to modify a noun event or time, such as period, age, 1987, or decade. In these circumstance, you can also use in which instead of when. So, whenever we see time or event nouns, we can use either when or in which.

I believe that the usage of in which for place nouns is different than the one presented above. Where can be used to modify a noun place ( a physical one) and in which can modify a "situation, condition, case, circumstances, or arrangements"- MGMAT SC.

So, I look forward to your explanation for the questions above.

Thanks.

lavinia u are more likely to receive a response if u pose the full question.
I can recall glimpses of this question but i remember the verb tense was not the only issue here.

I see that C is grammatical and logic.I do not find any error in C.

If C stand alone, C is correct.

but because C stands with B, C is considered the distorted meaning and B is considered the intended meaning.

is my thinking correct.