had gone vs went

Question

That was the first time I had gone hiking". I saw this phrase spoken by a native speaker on youTube. I was wondering if I could say "That was the first time I went hiking".

May I know what's the idfference? Thanks

Answer 1

In the example, you are using the past tense of the verb "to be," which is "was." In this sentence, "that was" refers to "the first time I went hiking." So, this sentence is correct. Both tenses should be parallel or equal. The simple past tense (went) is fine.

If the context is that you went hiking many times, and you are referring to the first time that you went hiking, it would be correct to say "That was the first time I had ever gone hiking."

You need to make the context clear.

Answer 2

In the example you gave, the first version would be even more correct, if the speaker had said (another past perfect!): "That was the first time I had ever gone hiking," it would be even clearer that he's referring to the first time he hiked compared to the subsequent times he did.

So, to be able to use past perfect, you need a signal in the sentence, or piece of information given within the context that implies that one action is older, and was done before another.

Ex: My family had lived there before we moved to Colorado.

"had lived there" PRECEDES in time "moved to Colorado." Same thing with your sentence "That was the first time I had gone hiking" it is implied in the context that the speaker had hiked before all the other times he hiked later on in his life.

Hope this makes sense!