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Fill in the correct form of the verbs in brackets

I have been a fan of soap operas for years. I always watch my favorite show three times a week. In fact, until about a week ago, I had never missed a single episode. Last Saturday, while I was sitting in front of the TV, the electricity suddenly went off. After waiting for about an hour, I finally phoned the telephone company. “What happened I asked them.

I know I already asked this question but I did not receive an answer explaining me why it would be better to stick to past simple for miss.

I think it is normal to emphasize the fact of never missing a show especially because in the beginning it says that the person has been a fan of soap operas for years .So I think it is better to use past perfect, ( past simple does not go very well with for years.)

I am certainly wrong but please could you explain me why?
btw why I always watch is in present , it is not true at the time of writing

Yves Lefol
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    I've answered on your previous question. Perhaps this one is now a dupe present for a habit that was not true at the time of writing My answer: "I prefer past perfect." – James K Apr 10 '23 at 10:41
  • My comment (the first one after you posted this text a couple of days ago) starts with The Perfect verb form is completely unnecessary in your until about a week ago, I had never missed an episode. Don't use Perfect verb forms unless you need them. – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '23 at 10:42
  • @FumbleFingers - Until about a week ago, I had never missed an episode seems entirely correct and natural to me. – Kate Bunting Apr 10 '23 at 10:48
  • @KateBunting: I don't necessarily say there's anything wrong with the Perfect in that specific context. But it's still completely unnecessary, and in my experience non-native speakers come out with far more "noticeably non-idiomatic" usages because they *overuse* Perfect forms, rather than *fail to use them. Which I'm sure is just because it's relatively easy to describe the principles that normally allow* use of Perfect forms, but it's not so easy to recognize when you *need* them (unless you're a native speaker, obviously! :) – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '23 at 10:56
  • what do you think of the present tense of always watch why not I had always watched because this statement was not true any more at the time of writing – Yves Lefol Apr 10 '23 at 11:11
  • You already introduced a perfect usage in the second word of your text. Imho that's quite enough to establish a contextually-relevant link between past and present, so there's no good reason to repeat the "technique, device", even with Present Perfect. Using Past Perfect for the second sentence strikes me as slightly peculiar in your exact context. That's because the next sentence starts with "In fact", which normally introduces an assertion *contrasting* what was said earlier - but Past Perfect in sentence 2 would already imply the situation must have recently changed. – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '23 at 11:36
  • If you keep looking for chances to use Perfect forms, you'll eventually end up telling yourself you should have written Last Saturday, while I had been* sitting in front of the TV...* on the grounds that the act of sitting came *before* the power cut. That way lies madness. Instead, direct your efforts towards learning how to avoid Perfect forms, and you'll almost certainly end up sounding more like a native Anglophone! – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '23 at 11:42
  • but Past Perfect in sentence 2 would already imply the situation must have recently changed. But the situation had already changed at the time of writing because the person did not see the episode of last week – Yves Lefol Apr 10 '23 at 13:22

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