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Can a simple past tense question have a past perfect tense answer?
Q: Did you eat?
A: Yes, I had eaten.
Is the above correct?
As I wonder if a past perfect tense can solely exist without a simple past tense.
I understand a past perfect tense always comes with a simple past tense. But sometimes I can see a situation like the following, for instance, "He had met him before the party". So if the question is restricted to a (past) time, is it possible to give a past perfect tense reply?
No, that’s not correct. In that situation, you should simply say “yes, I ate”. That tense is reserved for describing events that happened even further in the past than another event being discussed. For example:
Did you eat before you went to the store? Yes, I had already eaten when I went to the store.
Both “going to the store” and “eating” happened in the past, but it’s important to specify that the eating occurred even further in the past.
Hope this helps!
