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past perfect tense doubt

by hemant_rajput » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:21 am
"I had eaten three pieces of cake when I learned that the cake was poisoned."

So this is the sentence from MGMAT Verbal Basic. I feel weird about the meaning of this sentence. My interpretation is that, "I learned that cake was poisoned so I ate the cake", which is definitely stupid. So can someone clarify this sentence.
I'm no expert, just trying to work on my skills. If I've made any mistakes please bear with me.
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by EducationAisle » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:42 am
when is used in the sense of before in this sentence.
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by aditya8062 » Wed Mar 06, 2013 10:34 am
by the time u learned that the cake was poisoned u already had eaten three pieces of cake
so the sequence is : u ate ----->then u learned that cake was poisoned (on a lighter note ..kind of dangerous situation else why wud u eat if u knew its poisoned unless of course ur on a suicidal streak )
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by Gowri@CrackVerbal » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:07 pm
hemant_rajput wrote:"I had eaten three pieces of cake when I learned that the cake was poisoned."

So this is the sentence from MGMAT Verbal Basic. I feel weird about the meaning of this sentence. My interpretation is that, "I learned that cake was poisoned so I ate the cake", which is definitely stupid. So can someone clarify this sentence.
In the example you cited, 'when' is used as a time marker to indicate the particular juncture in time when you realized that the cake was poisoned.

For the meaning you suspect to come out, the sentence should be worded differently:

When I learned that the cake was poisoned, I ate three pieces of it.
Gowri N Kishore
Verbal Specialist & Mentor
CrackVerbal

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