She gave/had given...

[subhajit123]

Which one is correct and why?
1- She gave everyone a present before she left home.
2- She had given everyone a present before she left home.

 

[emsr2d2]

They're both grammatically correct. Which one you need would depend on the context and the surrounding sentences.

 

[subhajit123]

They're both grammatically correct. Which one you need would depend on the context and the surrounding sentences.

Is simple past tense interchangeable with past perfect tense in this kind of context? Can someone please clear it to me? My grammar book says one should use past perfect tense to show the thing that occurs first. So why is the past perfect tense here not compulsory? :-|

 

[GoesStation]

Is simple past tense interchangeable with past perfect tense in this kind of context?

You haven't provided any context. Put the sentences into a longer dialog and we can comment on which tense is appropriate and why.

 

[Phaedrus]

My grammar book says one should use past perfect tense to show the thing that occurs first. So why is the past perfect tense here not compulsory? :-|

"Before" in "before she left home" indicates that her giving everyone a present occurred before her leaving home. The past perfect in the main clause would provide a redundant indication of the same thing. If "when" were used instead of "before," the past perfect would be compulsory:

She had given everyone a present when she left home.

Otherwise the sentence would indicate that the giving and the leaving occurred simultaneously.