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1-He was very excited to have been invited to Matt's party.The last time he was at a party, he had (got-BE)/(gotten-AE) so drunk that he was unable to get back home.

2-He was very excited to have been invited to Matt's party.The last time he was at a party, he got so drunk that he was unable to get back home.

3-He was very excited to have been invited to Matt's party.The last time he had been to a party he had (got-BE)/(gotten-AE) so drunk that he was unable to get back home.

4-He was very excited to have been invited to Matt's party.The last time he had been to a party he got so drunk that he was unable to get back home. Could someone elo

2 Answers 2

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All four possibilities are fine. English speakers don't necessarily use the past perfect when the temporal relationships are clear without, and there is not a need to set a temporal focus.

I think 2 is slightly less likely than any of the others, because in the other cases at least one of the verbs set it in the past of the past; but even without that, no 2 is possible, especially if there is further context that makes it clear that that last time was before Matt's party.

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The last time he had been to a party he had gotten so drunk that he had been unable to walk home. Past perfect is used because that party took place before this party, which is yet to come . "He was excited" is set in the past ( past simple is used) and anything happening before that is in past perfect. I think "was" should be in past perfect too.

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  • I think the last time refers to a specific moment and past perfect is mandatory
    – Yves Lefol
    Commented Feb 10, 2020 at 16:50

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