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A: Do you know this man?

B: Yes, I'd seen him before war, but I haven't seen him since that time.

Anthony Voronkov
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1 Answers1

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No, this is not correct. The discourse time—the time A and B are talking about—is the present; this is established by A's use of present-tense do and B's present perfect haven't. Past perfect is used only of events before a past discourse, such as:

A: Did you know this man in 2005?
B: I had known him before the war, but I had not seen him since that time.

StoneyB on hiatus
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  • Although I have you example, I haven't find out the best way to rewrite it. As was mentioned in the above, I should had written: A: Do you know this man? B: I saw him before war, but I haven't seen him since that time. – Anthony Voronkov Jun 15 '17 at 19:35
  • From not-native points of view everything is clear: Do you know? - present time, time of our conversation; I had seen him before war, but I haven't seen him since that time ("war" - specific past time; "I had seen" - experience before specific past time; "I haven't seen" - experience from some point having continuing up to a present current time). I'm sorry, if my question is too annoying. I just want to clear it up and make good strides in learning English. – Anthony Voronkov Jun 15 '17 at 19:41
  • @AnthonyVoronkov The version in your first comment is correct. Past perfect isn't used for an event before just any past time, it must be an event before reference time, the time you are talking about--and the time A and B are talking about is the present: *Do you know him? ... I haven't seen him...* The time of the war is not reference time, it is merely a locative adjunct defining the time when B did see him. – StoneyB on hiatus Jun 15 '17 at 19:57
  • So, I can use Past Perfect if I have written, for example, ...before war began.... Do I understand you properly? And, by the way, I should have written shouldn't have written in my first comment instead of shouldn't had written. – Anthony Voronkov Jun 15 '17 at 20:53
  • @AnthonyVoronkov Not unless you shift your discourse to a past RT and refrain from returning to the present (I have seen) at the end. By and large, you should avoid past perfect unless you need it to shift from a past time to an earlier time (see *FumbleFingers' Perfect Truism*). – StoneyB on hiatus Jun 15 '17 at 21:12