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When I was at home, I had decided not to go to a restaurant. But later when I left home for some errand, I was hungry. So I went to a restaurant. So which one would rightly describing my situation?

  1. I went to a restaurant. I hadn't decided about it before I left home.
  2. I went to a restaurant. I didn't decide about it before I left home.

Are the sentences correct? Can past perfect tense be used with before?

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  • A native speaker would not use the second construction. The first construction is correct, because the "had not decided" matches the "went".
    – TechnoCat
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 1:11

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Yes, both are correct. The past perfect is for talking about something that happened before something else. Therefore, in this example, you are saying you didn't decide about it before you left home. It makes sense.

Note: speakers often don't use the past perfect (with had) when they could do so, if the temporal relationships are clear without it.

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    I would add that speakers often don't use the past perfect (with had) when they could do so, if the temporal relationships are clear without it.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Sep 27, 2019 at 18:33
  • @ColinFine added
    – user109564
    Commented Sep 27, 2019 at 18:34

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