Grammar and meaning question

Question

Which sentence is correct , Please explain it to me :

sentence 1 : It was dark ,moonlit night when he arrived at the inn

sentence 2 : It was dark ,moonlit night when he had arrived at the inn

Answer 1

Your first sentence with the indefinite article a before dark would be natural and correct.

You would use the past perfect had arrived only in a context when you wish to emphasise that he arrived there before something else occurred. For example:

He had arrived at the inn early in order to secure a room, only to discover that the inn was full.

The above sentence would also be correct if you omitted had. Much of the time, the choice between the past tense and the past perfect is optional.