Do these two convey the same meaning? And if not, what's the difference?
- Judy had visited Thailand in 2014
- Judy visited Thailand in 2014
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2"Judy had visited Thailand in 2014" would usually set up something else that happened in the past but after her visit such as "Judy had visited Thailand in 2014, but when she went back in 2018 she found she had forgotten all her useful Thai phrases ".– HenryNov 16, 2020 at 11:00
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1Note that (1) uses the past perfect (in olden days, pluperfect) construction, not the present perfect ('has visited') (which would need special contexts here) construction.– Edwin AshworthNov 16, 2020 at 11:17
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1 Answer
Past perfect is not used in single simple sentences. Since it refers intrinsically to a second past time, prior to some other past event, a clause using the past perfect construction must have some other close clause or sentence to refer to.
Consequently,
- Judy had visited Thailand in 2014
all by itself, is a very strange sentence. Why did the speaker use past perfect? What else happened later?
The past perfect pops up in narratives to place events in sequence:
- Judy had visited Thailand in 2014, but when she returned last year she found a lot of changes.
But it doesn't occur by itself.
answered Nov 16, 2020 at 15:39
