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I've come across the following:

(A)

Joe had been on a diet for a month when he came to stay with us, and we noticed immediately that he had already lost a lot of weight.

According to Advanced Grammar in Use: A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Advanced Learners of English; with Answers,

With times clauses introduced by after, when ... the past simple refers to the past, completed events and the present perfect to future events ...

□ After she left the hospital (past), she had a long holiday.

... In the time clause in sentences like this it is possible to use the past perfect instead of the past simple (e.g. After she had left...) ...

(p. 6)

Why in (A) the author chose to use the past simple instead of the past perfect? Is it a matter of style? Is it because of the way it's phrased? From my experience, it would sound unnatural to use past perfect.

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  • Joe had been on a diet for a month when he came to stay with us = because at the point in time when he came, an event preceded it: He had been on diet for a month. This follows the basic rule for PP.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2021 at 18:56
  • ell.stackexchange.com/questions/156540/…
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2021 at 19:49
  • @Lambie What about the rest ? "... and we noticed that ... " If we follow that rule, won't it make "when he had come" instead of "when he came"?
    – Nameless
    Commented Jun 20, 2021 at 21:03
  • No, when he came (at a specific time in the past), he had been (BEFORE that past point in time and up to it) on a diet. Please write this down and memorize it: The past perfect always implies a previous event in the simple past or sometimes continuous that precedes it. When he had come to the house, we were out. It is always the same thing: One event in the past precedes another.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 20, 2021 at 22:01
  • @Lambie If 'he came' happened before 'we noticed', then why not 'he had come'?
    – Nameless
    Commented Jun 20, 2021 at 23:18

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