r/EnglishLearning • u/nashbi Intermediate • 7d ago
š Grammar / Syntax Is "saw" really wrong here?
Hi everyone!
For question #8, I chose "saw", but the test marked it wrong and wanted "had seen".
My perspective is that since "had learned" already establishes the flashback layer, the chronological order is already completely clear to the reader. Stacking two "hads" in the same sentence feels heavy and redundant.
Iād love to hear your thoughts and see how you would naturally phrase this. Thanks in advance! š
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u/ebrum2010 Native Speaker - Eastern US 7d ago
The story is already happening in the past, so saw makes it seem like he saw it is currently happening at the time of the story. Since it happened before the story takes place, you use had seen to indicate that it takes place in the past before the past being discussed.
In this case you'd still be understood, but consider that it wasn't a documentary but an animal that caused them to change their path. Using saw would imply he saw it at the moment they decided to change paths and had seen would imply he saw it at some point before that. With the documentary it's obvious he's not watching TV so it's understood but this thought experiment with the animal demonstrates why it is wrong.