Past perfect and clauses linked by before/after

[Ishita]

Page 46 of Sentence Correction states, that exceptions to the rule of using past perfect tense when two events occurred at different times in the past are -
1. Verbs that have the same grammatical subject
2. Clauses linked by before or after

The exercise at the end of the chapter on page 53 -
Q 9 - "They never met an Australian before they met Crocodile Dundee"
is corrected to
"They had never met an Australian before they met Crocodile Dundee"

But the corrected sentence violates both the exception cases. While the original sentence easily sounds incorrect and the corrected one clearly sounds right, I am curious to find out the theory behind this anomaly.

Please let me know if you have any clues.

Thanks
Ishita

[esledge]

Hi Ishita,

This is a really interesting question.

I can think of one more exception to the need for past perfect when two actions happen at different times in the past: when dates/days/times are given that clarify the order of events. For example, "We attended a meeting in the morning, and participated in discussions in the afternoon." For a another such example, you may want to look up OG#86

On the Crocodile Dundee example, I think that the use of past perfect with the word "before" further clarifies the meaning.

"They never met an Australian before they met Crocodile Dundee" might be interpreted as "anytime they meet Crocodile Dundee, they avoid meeting other Australians first." Sure, the "before" orders the events, but the use of simple past for both actions keeps the meaning more general, in my view.

"They had never met an Australian before they met Crocodile Dundee" more clearly conveys the idea that prior to meeting Crocodile Dundee once in the past, no other Australians were known to them. The past perfect "had never met" has an implied ending at the simple past "met."