Become a Better Writer: Follow This New English Grammar Rule

Good writing is free of clutter. One important thing English Language stylists agree on is to weed out unnecessary words. E.B. White, who wanted to remove the phrase the fact that from every sentence it occurred, was a strong proponent of pruning superfluous writing; so is his follower William Zinsser, who called clutter “the disease of American writing.” Both authors are my models, and now, armed with an ear for clutter, it’s my time to fight this disease. If you are a writer, use the new rule to get a step closer to clear writing. If you are a grammar book author, use it to teach better English. Here’s the new grammar rule about the usage of past simple and past perfect tenses:

The examples in the left-hand column are wrong: the use of past perfect is clutter because it adds nothing to the sentence. The words after, before, and earlier clearly signal the order of events.

After we had stopped for coffee, John decided to call sick.

After they'd left, I took a bath.

I had met the great king a month before he died.

We had tested all the parts before they left the factory.

Though earlier attempts had failed, the agency wasn’t ready to give up the idea.

I've researched three popular ESL grammar textbooks: Betty Azar's Understanding and Using English Grammar (3rd ed.), Focus on Grammar (3rd ed.), and Advanced Grammar in Use (2nd ed.) by Martin Hewings. All three textbooks explain that such sentences have the same meaning, and that either usage is correct. But it isn't. Here's why: would you attach an unnecessary part to your car's engine just because it fits there?