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Could I replace “had feared” with “feared” in the following sentence?
Could I replace “had feared” with “feared” in the following sentence? Why the former make more sense?
According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many “had feared” earlier in the year and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity.
To happygreeneyes:
You are the best!
The use of "had feared" instead of "feared" is to distinguish between two events that happened in the past, one earlier than the other. In this case, analysts HAD FEARED a recession before the stock market MADE some recent gains. (I know the word "made" is not used in the example, but it is inferred from the context.) "Had feared" is in the past perfect simple tense, whereas "made" is in plain old past tense.
Another example of the past perfect simple tense would be the following:
"I called my friend 5 minutes ago to let her know I no longer needed a ride, but her mom told me she HAD LEFT the house 10 minutes before I called."
(I put "5 minutes ago" and "10 minutes before I called" in there to further illustrate that the point at which the friend left the house was even earlier than the point in the past when the call was made.)
I hope that helps!
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