Past/Past peferct

[Allifathima]

1. There I met a man who was my classmate 20 years ago. (simple past)
2. There I met a man who had been my classmate 20 years ago.(past with past-perfect)
Could we use both the sentences? Are they acceptable?

[Alan]

Hi,

Both are acceptable. The use of the past simple 'was' is in line with 'met', also in the past simple. Using the past perfect simply takes you back a step further in the past and makes the 'being a classmate' more remote.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple