I was overwhelmed with joy when i read the texts you had sent me.
I was overwhelmed with joy when i read the texts you sent me.
Are both the above sentences grammatically correct? What's the difference in their meaning?
asked Dec 30, 2015 at 7:32
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A great resource about perfect: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13255/…– shinCommented Dec 30, 2015 at 7:35
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2The second one shows a chain of actions that happened right one after another. When the meaning is clear, you don't need past perfect.– SchwaleCommented Dec 30, 2015 at 12:20
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This might be useful: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/5461/…– VlammuhCommented Oct 25, 2016 at 21:05
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1 Answer
Both sentences mean the same thing, that someone sent you texts which made you happy.
Using had sent (past perfect), shows that the sender finished sending before the next action: that you were overwhelmed. However, in this case, there is no ambiguity in the order of actions since you could only become overwhelmed after the texts were sent.
For my experience, the second sentence is used more, the first sounds too learned.
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1Does it sound less learned to you if the person says "... you'd sent me"?– TimRCommented Dec 30, 2015 at 22:43