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A. I had visited them two months ago.
B. I visited them two months ago.

Which one is correct?

RegDwigнt
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user63166
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  • (A) is only grammatical if a nearby sentence (or another clause in the same sentence) references a time between two months ago and now: "I had visited them two months ago, when they seemed perfectly happy, so I was quite surprised to hear they filed for divorce last month." The past perfect is allowable here because "had visited" comes before "was surprised to hear". – Peter Shor Feb 23 '14 at 13:58
  • @PeterShor Din't quite get you . Please frame a sentence for what you are stating . – user63166 Feb 23 '14 at 14:00
  • A. is pluperfect. B. is perfect. So, A. is further back in time than some other event. – d'alar'cop Feb 23 '14 at 14:01
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    As an aside, no whitespace goes before a period in English. (Or in any other language, for that matter.) – RegDwigнt Feb 23 '14 at 14:06
  • Also, I think I must say (although I've given an answer) that this question should really be in the http://ell.stackexchange.com/ – d'alar'cop Feb 23 '14 at 14:09
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    @PeterShor I can only guess the point of the exercise is to teach the OP not to use ago with Past Perfect, but to use before that instead. Whether or not that's a useful exercise, is of course a separate question. – RegDwigнt Feb 23 '14 at 14:12
  • @RegDwigнt Helpful comments – user63166 Feb 23 '14 at 14:18
  • Both versions are fine. It depends on context as to which one might be preferred by the writer or speaker. – F.E. Feb 23 '14 at 20:53

1 Answers1

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"Which one is correct" cannot be answered without further context. However this information can help you decide for yourself.

A. is pluperfect. B. is present perfect. So, A. is further back in time than some other event.

And in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_(grammar)#English

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d'alar'cop
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