'before I went out' vs 'before I had gone out'

[Tom]

Hello everybody

Could anybody tell me the difference between the given sentences?

1-I cooked the dinner before I went out.
2-I cooked the dinner before I had gone out.

Tom

[Mister Micawber]

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I like #1; #2 is extremely difficult to rationalize, and I am tempted to call it a non-native construct.
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Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[Tom]

Thanks again

If I alter the sentences a bit?

1- I had cooked the dinner before I went out.
2- I cooked the dinner before I went out.

Is your opinion still the same or there seems to be some difference between the sentences?

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

I think both of the sentences (in the second set) are OK, and I don't really think there's much difference other than maybe that the past perfect tends to emphasize the sequence of events more.

But my knee-jerk reaction to sentence 1 would also be to add the word already:
I'd already cooked the dinner before I went out.

Amy
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English