[Grammar] '... he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish'

[hhtt21]

"He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish."

From The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway.Would you explain why the past perfect is preferred in the sentence? What's if it was simple past?

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Please fix the title of the book and the name of the author. There is a word missing from each one. Also, you only need to put the title in italics, not "by [name of author]".

 

[Rover_KE]

Please note that I have changed your thread title.



'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[Skrej]

One of the uses of the past perfect is to talk about duration before something else in the past, or completed actions in the past before another event in the past.

In this case the period of 84 days is the completed duration. Although he hasn't caught it yet at this point in the story, the fish he caught is the second event in the past that completes the dry spell.

 

[hhtt21]

Please fix the title of the book and the name of the author. There is a word missing from each one. Also, you only need to put the title in italics, not "by [name of author]".

I have made some fixes. Is it O.K now?

Thank you.

 

[hhtt21]

Please note that I have changed your thread title.



'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

If adding tags would have been existed, it would have been better. I could have added the past perfect tense as a tag.

Thank you.

 

[GoesStation]

Would you explain why the past perfect is preferred in the sentence? What[STRIKE]'s[/STRIKE] if it was in the simple past?

The simple past would not be possible in the quoted sentence because the event was in the past for the established time frame.

 

[emsr2d2]

I have made some fixes. Is it O.K now?

Thank you.

Almost. The word "The" at the start of the book title should be in italics but "by Ernest Hemingway" should not be in italics.