Learn English – Thought & Had thought

differencemeaning

What is the difference in meaning between …

"I saw him again last year, I thought he was tall"

and

"I saw him again last year, I had thought he was tall"

Best Answer

When you say:

I saw him again last year, and I thought he was tall.

This is just a statement of something that happened in the past.

I saw him again last year, and I had thought he was tall.

by itself seems incomplete, as it implies that your opinion changed at a later date. You could write:

I saw him again last year, and I had thought he was tall. But when I saw him last week, I noticed that he was not that tall. I suppose I had stars in my eyes.

I added and because you need a conjunction when joining independent clauses with a comma. Your wording is OK if you use a semi-colon:

I saw him again last year; I thought he was tall.

but with short clauses I would use a comma instead.

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