jacquelinegun wrote:Why is this sentence "The old building was
burnt down last night" more suitable than "the old building had
been burnt down last night"? The same with: Tell us how you and
your sister had been kidnapped last month. Tell us how you and
your sister were kidnapped last month. Please reply asap. The
time expression "last night" when representing a moment in the
past which happened and referring to a sole action, demands the
use of the past simple (was burnt - passive, or were kidnapped -
also passive) Past Simple is the form of a verb used to express
what existed or happened in the past. "Had been burnt" or "had
been kidnapped" : This is the Past Perfect Tense, used when
there are two events or actions that happened in the past, one
before the other. Example: When I heard the news (1st action,
past simple) your sister had been kidnapped (2nd action, past
perfect, happened before the first one). Hope it helps :) Syl's
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