In Past perfect^x, Clauses^x

This situation is indeed similar to the one discussed. Good point. Strictly speaking, the past perfect tense need not have been used in the "clouds" clause. It was likely used to show that the coming of clouds preceded the rain -- which is only logical, of course.So the past perfect...

"Must", not always. On many occasions we can use the simple past as a substitute for the past perfect but then we have to rely on context, and the events have to be written in the correct sequence. When we use the past perfect, on the other hand, we can change the order in which we tell...

OK, this I got. But I still don't understand why the second clause ("...clouds had joined...") must(?) be written in the Past Perfect. Before I had written a couple of lines someone called (Past Simple) me — Before they had finished breakfast the clouds joined (Past Simle) into...

written a couple of lines someone calls me". Your sentence is a backshifted version of this.

Am I right that "came down" can be replaced by "had began" producing a sentence consisting of three Past Perfect clauses? «Before they had finished breakfast the clouds had joined into an unbroken roof and a straight grey rain had began"» I have seen usages like:...

Hi,1) Is this a conditional? I thought a sentence with an if-clause is not conditional if the word 'if' can be replaced by 'whether'. Incidentally, to me, the sentence can be replaced as such.Yesterday she threatened to call her sister if he called her one more time.2) Is this...

Thank you so much,but I beg to differ on several points:I think your correction of "who had been begging for change" isn't good since its passive past continuous is unwarranted here; the past perfect "who had begged for change" would be good, I think.I think your...

HiYour sentence is in the present perfect. "Have you ever had ...""the feeling" is a gerund, and acts as if it were a noun (it's the direct complement of "have had"). Try and replace it with "idea", "impression" etc (I'm not saying they...

They are all correct. For lengthier discussions with lots of examples of the use of the past perfect tense after before, see Re: before past perfect tense , past tense and Re: Past Simple or Past Perfect. This is a common pattern for expressing "interruptive relationships" between...

Yes. Your backshift interpretation seems right to me. But I don't see this as necessarily subjunctive. It comes off as a sort of borderline case to my ear.CJ PS. ... would have baked you a cake is the usual expression!