Tenses query present and past

Question

What is the difference between 'I have gone to the restaurant' and 'I had gone to the restaurant'

The first would only be used in a context such as "If John calls, tell him I have gone to the restaurant". The second refers to events further back in the past. "I had gone to the restaurant the day before, but had not seen John there." — Kate Bunting, Mar 19 '19 at 11:51

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 19 '19 at 13:17

To copy Kate's comment into an answer it is time

I will illustrate with 2 snippets

Bob: Where are you?
Me: I have gone to the restaurant.

vs

Bob: Why weren't you at home (yesterday)?
Me: I had gone to the restaurant.

"I have gone", says you are still there, you have left the previous place and gone somewhere new, which is where you are.
"I had gone", says you went there but it was long ago, and has no information about where you are now.

Thanks much for the clarification! :) – Shak Mar 21 '19 at 14:21 — Shak, Mar 21 '19 at 14:21

Tenses query present and past

1 Answers1