Past Perfect vs. Past Simple

[Rosalisa]

Hi teachers,

I have one question related to past perfect or past simple...

After I had had dinner, I returned home.
After I had dinner, i returned home.

Among these two sentences, which one is more appropriate?[/u]
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[Tom]

I would say that the second one is more natural.

The first one is, ironically enough, Pakistani construction.

Tom

[Alan]

Hi,

Possibly this needs further comment. The use of 'had had' sounds clumsy and awkward but if you said 'had taken/eaten', the problem would go away. As we have two different times (having dinner and returning home), there is a requirement to use the past perfect 'had had/had eaten' Possibly the second sentence could read: After dinner I returned home or I had dinner and afterwards returned home.

A
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[Yankee]

I have to disagree that the use of the past perfect is required in this sentence -- even if the verb is changed to 'eat': "After I ate dinner I returned home." The order of the two past events is made clear by the word 'after'. The use of the past perfect is optional.

However, if you use the word 'when' instead of 'after', then the use of the past perfect would be much more likely or necessary:

When I had had (had eaten) dinner, I returned home.

[Tom]

OK, what about this one? Which one sounds more natural?

1- The patient died before the doctor came.
2- The patient had died before the doctor came.

By the way, many thanks to both of you!

Tom

[Yankee]

The use of the past perfect is completely unnecessary in that sentence, Tom.