'before I went out' vs 'before I had gone out'

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello everybody

Could anybody tell me the difference between the given sentences?

1-I cooked the dinner before I went out.
2-I cooked the dinner before I had gone out.

Tom

2

.
I like #1; #2 is extremely difficult to rationalize, and I am tempted to call it a non-native construct.
.

3

Thanks again

If I alter the sentences a bit? :smiley:

1- I had cooked the dinner before I went out.
2- I cooked the dinner before I went out.

Is your opinion still the same or there seems to be some difference between the sentences?

Tom

4

Hi Tom

I think both of the sentences (in the second set) are OK, and I don’t really think there’s much difference other than maybe that the past perfect tends to emphasize the sequence of events more.

But my knee-jerk reaction to sentence 1 would also be to add the word already:
I’d already cooked the dinner before I went out.

Amy