Which of the following is grammatically correct and why?
1) He and his family had been weary when they arrived the night before, and they had observed but little of the place.
2) He and his family had been weary when they had arrived the night before, and they had observed but little of the place.
Best Answer
They both seem grammatically correct.
The first one is the normal thing you would expect to hear or read.
The second seems to put a redundant, wordy emphasis on the finality and discreteness of the arrival. This is unnecessary because of the "had" previously in the sentence extends to the arrival as well. This version has a slight clumsiness to it that you would not hear often in spoken English.