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I'm writing something and wondering which one is the best choice and why.

The situation is that I'm explaining about a experience of cooking for my parents to one of my friends.

  1. It was the first time that I'd prepared dinner for my parents.

  2. It was the first time that I prepared dinner for my parents.

  3. It was the first time that I've prepared dinner for my parents.

If possible, can I ask the difference?

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  • The last one is incorrect.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jul 11, 2023 at 16:21

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The first and second would be correct since for the last one, there is conflict in the tense. You see, there needs to be verb tense agreement or consistency in a sentence. Read more on this here:

Verb Tense Consistency

Now your first sentence agrees perfectly in terms of its verbs and tense therefore it is the correct one. The second one just says prepared but still indicates past tense which is in agreement with was. So it is also correct.

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  • And just to add - there is no difference in meaning between the first two. In this example, Past Simple and Past Perfect mean the same thing.
    – Friendly Racoon
    Commented Mar 14 at 13:56

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