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Which is correct?

It was late and I was trying to do your package quickly and hadn't thought that I could put everything together.

or

It was late and I was trying to do your package quickly and didn't think that I could put everything together.

Joanne
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    Grammatically both versions are correct.

    My impression is that the first version makes more sense in the context.

    The "hadn't thought" carries an information that you made a mistake because of the circumstances in the given moment. In this case it would be because you were in a rush.

    The "didn't think" carries an information that there was an error in your thinking. It wasn't dependent on the circumstances in the given moment. In this case you would make the same mistake even if you weren't in a rush.

    I'm not posting this as an answer as I don't really know if I'm right.

     – tsuma534 Oct 28 '16 at 11:33
  • Another difference is that I didn't think that I could do A can mean I thought that doing A was impossible or not permitted. A less ambiguous way to say what you want to say is I didn't think to do A which always means that the possibility of doing A did not occur to you. – BoldBen Jan 24 '17 at 01:30

5 Answers5

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This is a question of 'past simple' (didn't think) vs 'past perfect' (hadn't thought). Past simple is used to indicate that something happened before the present. Past perfect is used to indicate that something happened before some other past event.

So with this specific question lets label each of the events/actions:

A - It was late

B - I was trying to do your package quickly

C - [I] didn't/hadn't think/thought that I could put everything together

If you're trying to indicate that either A or B happened after C you would use 'hadn't thought'. If you are trying to indicate that A and B each happened either before or at the same time as C you would use 'didn't think'.

Hopefully this helps if anyone else comes across this question.

In order to verify this information consult a conjugation chart for 'to think'. Check to make sure the tense of 'I thought' is 'past simple' and the tense of 'I had thought' is 'past perfect'. Do a search for 'past simple forms' and verify that the negative form of 'I thought' is 'I did not think'. Do a search for 'past perfect forms' and verify that the negative form of 'I had thought' is 'I had not thought'. At this point we know that 'I didn't think' is past simple tense and 'I hadn't thought' is past perfect tense. Now do a search for 'past simple vs. past perfect' and verify that 'past simple' is used to indicate something occurred before the present and 'past prefect' is used to indicate that something occurred before another past event. Srry I'm only allowed 2 links because I'm not a cool user.

Kris Larson
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Both are correct, but have Different meanings.

Consider:
It was late, and I was packing his items. I was going to finish it before leaving office, because I had thought everything : wrapping paper, scissors, glue & marker pens; but I had not thought of ribbons. Hence I could not finish.

Here, I was doing the thinking before packing, both in the past.

Now consider:
It was late, and I was buying things for him. I thought of everything he would need: water, sandwiches, eggs & biscuits; but I did not think of bananas. Hence I did not buy that.

Here, I was doing the thinking at the same time as the buying, both in the past.

[[ My answer is quite similar to the answer by @Kris Larson ]]

Prem
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Didn't think would be the correct usage here. Perhaps this is helpful: -Use "didn't think" to describe specific actions or events you didn't think would happen. For example, I didn't think I would make it. Or, I didn't think you would call. Or, I didn't think the concert was tonight. Use "hadn't thought" to refer to a specific thought that you didn't have. For example: I hadn't thought of that possibility. Or, I hadn't thought of it. You may have to change the conjugation in some instances. Like: I haven't thought about Jane in forever. So it would not be correct to say, "I hadn't thought you would call." "I didn't think you would call" would be correct here. I hope this was helpful.

user149987
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Both are correct, but have different meanings.

In the first case, the emphasized words refer to thinking happening prior to "it was late". In the second example, both happen at the same time.

MWB
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Everyone here is correct that both options are correct; but I disagree on the difference between them.

It was late and I was trying to do your package quickly and hadn't thought that I could put everything together.

In this sentence, the thought never crossed your mind.

It was late and I was trying to do your package quickly and didn't think that I could put everything together.

In this sentence, the thought did cross your mind; but you actively decided that it wasn't possible.

Flater
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