I'd jumped outta bed as soon as I'd heard it

Question

So the other day, I and my friend were talking about how he'd been late for work. He told me one of his employees had called him saying the shop had been supposed to open like 20 minutes earlier and I was gonna reply to my friend saying

“Oh, I would have jumped outta the bed in shock as soon as I had heard it”

then I was confused because of that part after as soon as. I didn't know if that sentence was correct or I should say just

”as soon as I heard it”

and I still don't know which one is the correct one and even if I knew, I wouldn't know why that is correct.

Do I have to say “as soon as I had heard it” or just “as soon as I heard it” in this situation? Please let me know. Thanks!

Answer 1

As soon as is used to talk about two actions or events that happened one after the other. Usually past perfect is not necessary in this case.

I jumped out of bed as soon as I heard it. (Two actions that occurred simultaneously).

However, we can use past perfect with 'as soon as' when the first action completed before the second started : As soon as he had finished his exams, he went to visit his uncle's house for a week.

We can use 'would have' with a if-clause in a conditional sentence like this :-

I would have jumped outta the bed in shock if I had heard it.

But we can also use would have + past participle to talk about something we wanted to do but didn't. This is very similar to the third conditional, but we don't need an 'if clause' :

I would have jumped outta the bed in shock as soon as I heard it.

Answer 2

In the implied context (casual conversation) both tenses are going to be understood. In a slightly more formal speech then the "as soon as I heard it" is the correct tense. There is no sense of a completed action occuring before a particular time, rather the call and the "jump out of bed" are all happening at the same (past) time, so the simple past is the right tense to use.

I'd have jumped out of bed in shock as soon as I heard it.