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I got my first job before I had left school…
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I got my first job before I was leaving school…

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Mrkněte na Předminulý čas (odstavec before…). :)

I got my first job before I was leaving school… :-( is incorrect. “Leaving school” refers to a specific point in time – one day, in other words, the day I left school. It has a clear beginning and a clear end.

Before I had left … is not necessary here. “Before” already tells us that one action (getting my first job) happened before the next (leaving school).

  1. I got my first job before I left school.
  2. I got my first job while I was still at school.

Sentence 2 is better. The intended focus of the sentence isn't to describe the time sequence of the actions. The sentence is intended to describe an unusual situation in which one stage of life (gainful employment) happened when another was still in progress (being at school), which, for most people, is not usually the case.

…the sentence is intended to describe an unusual situation in which one stage of life (gainful employment) happened when another was still in progress (being at school)… as far as I get it, this is exactly the case ( even if not very common) when past perfect is used with a special usage of " before "

Thank you both for helping me out. :-)

Yes, the reasoning here is quite subtle. There is a time sequence (“getting a job” happened before “leaving school”) but 1) out of context, the time sequence is not the main focus, and 2) out of context, there is no “cause and effect” relationship between the two actions, so there is no natural “trigger” for the past perfect when the simple past is adequate to describe two actions that happened in the past.

  1. The main focus is to convey the surprising idea that I was still at school when I got my first job.
  2. “Cause and effect”: I had taken the dog for a long walk before I went to work (so he was happy to rest until I got back home). This is a natural “cause and effect” use of the past perfect: The dog was happy to rest because I had taken it for a walk. In your original sentence there's no “cause and effect” relationship between the two actions.

There can be certain contexts in which “I got my first job before I had left school” is a natural option, but out of context, that isn't a normal use of the past perfect. Trying to analyse the “unusual” or “non-typical” use of tenses in single sentences taken out of context is usually not very productive. :-(

Odkaz na příspěvek Příspěvek od DesperateDan vložený před 4 lety

Yes, the reasoning here is quite subtle. There is a time sequence (“getting a job” happened before “leaving school”) but 1) out of context, the time sequence is not the main focus, and 2) out of context, there is no “cause and effect” relationship between the two actions, so there is no natural “trigger” for the past perfect when the simple past is adequate to describe two actions that happened in the past.

  1. The main focus is to convey the surprising idea that I was still at school when I got my first job.
  2. “Cause and effect”: I had taken the dog for a long walk before I went to work (so he was happy to rest until I got back home). This is a natural “cause and effect” use of the past perfect: The dog was happy to rest because I had taken it for a walk. In your original sentence there's no “cause and effect” relationship between the two actions.

There can be certain contexts in which “I got my first job before I had left school” is a natural option, but out of context, that isn't a normal use of the past perfect. Trying to analyse the “unusual” or “non-typical” use of tenses in single sentences taken out of context is usually not very productive. :-(

Out of curiosity: isn't “in school” the proper preposition in this case (if the meaning should be “while I was still a student”)?

Odkaz na příspěvek Příspěvek od Klotyl vložený před 4 lety

Out of curiosity: isn't “in school” the proper preposition in this case (if the meaning should be “while I was still a student”)?

Pokud já vím, tak AT SCHOOL i IN SCHOOL obě vyjadřují, že jste tam studoval. AT je obvyklejší v BrE, IN zase v AmE.

Odkaz na příspěvek Příspěvek od Daniel Müller vložený před 4 lety

Pokud já vím, tak AT SCHOOL i IN SCHOOL obě vyjadřují, že jste tam studoval. AT je obvyklejší v BrE, IN zase v AmE.

Já právě vždy viděl ten rozdíl, že at school znamená “ve škole, kde se učím” (jsem tam), zatímco “in school” obecně ve smyslu "jsem student (nepracuji), což se zdá potvrzovat následující:

  • At school means the person is literally, physically, inside the school.
  • In school means the person is studying in general (usually at college or university) but not necessarily inside the school building at that moment.

A vlastně i tady na HFE to pan Vít takto popisuje: https://www.helpforenglish.cz/…-x-in-school

Odkaz na příspěvek Příspěvek od Klotyl vložený před 4 lety

Já právě vždy viděl ten rozdíl, že at school znamená “ve škole, kde se učím” (jsem tam), zatímco “in school” obecně ve smyslu "jsem student (nepracuji), což se zdá potvrzovat následující:

  • At school means the person is literally, physically, inside the school.
  • In school means the person is studying in general (usually at college or university) but not necessarily inside the school building at that moment.

A vlastně i tady na HFE to pan Vít takto popisuje: https://www.helpforenglish.cz/…-x-in-school

I pan Vít to ale v pozdějších komentářích relativizuje, když si tu diskuzi pročtete celou…

As DM says, “in school” is the usual AmE preferred version. I (BrE speaker) naturally say “at school”:

Improve Your Job Prospects While You’re Still at School: 15 Ways to Increase Your Future Employability: The good news is that there’s lots you can be doing while you’re still at school or university to boost your chances of securing a great job after you graduate …

The differences between “at school” and “in school” explained in the links are, of course, valid, but not 100% watertight because they are descriptive, not prescriptive, and the main difference is AmE/BrE usage.

Odkaz na příspěvek Příspěvek od DesperateDan vložený před 4 lety

Yes, the reasoning here is quite subtle. There is a time sequence (“getting a job” happened before “leaving school”) but 1) out of context, the time sequence is not the main focus, and 2) out of context, there is no “cause and effect” relationship between the two actions, so there is no natural “trigger” for the past perfect when the simple past is adequate to describe two actions that happened in the past.

  1. The main focus is to convey the surprising idea that I was still at school when I got my first job.
  2. “Cause and effect”: I had taken the dog for a long walk before I went to work (so he was happy to rest until I got back home). This is a natural “cause and effect” use of the past perfect: The dog was happy to rest because I had taken it for a walk. In your original sentence there's no “cause and effect” relationship between the two actions.

There can be certain contexts in which “I got my first job before I had left school” is a natural option, but out of context, that isn't a normal use of the past perfect. Trying to analyse the “unusual” or “non-typical” use of tenses in single sentences taken out of context is usually not very productive. :-(

Yes, that is a clear explanation. My first choice was past, not past perfect…I started wondering when I found past perfect in the Key answers/ Maturita Solutions Interm. 3rd ed., recources. Then I began digging and learned about past perfect with before. Anyway, it is always nice to reveal a new piece. Thanks again.?

 

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