Yes, that's why I found "had visited + until" strange. It didn't make sense to me. To make sure my understanding of "until" is correct, I've just looked up one of the Japanese-English dictionaries I use and it says you can't say "He arrived until noon" (although this is simple past, not past perfect), because "arrive" isn't a continuous activity.But 'Had you visited Japan until...' can't be a continuous activity as the former one. For continuous activity we would ask 'Had you been visiting Japan until...'.
Oh...OK. Maybe you or someone else should have told me that much earlier.Meijin, the use of "until" in #2 is not correct, even though the poster put a checkmark on it. It's quite convoluted and no native speaker would express himself (or herself) like that.
2. Had you ever visited Japan until more than a year ago?![]()
You are right! Thank you for correcting my opinion!Yes, that's why I found "had visited + until" strange.
Exactly. Phew...I'm relieved now.We can put discontinuous verbs together with 'until' only in negative sentences.
Once again, updated my post...Exactly. Phew...I'm relieved now.![]()
Neither seems right to me...4. I had visited Japan until last summer.or
(I'm not sure)
(Since this action cannot be reversed, #4 still sounds strange.
Try this one then: I had visited Japan for only once until last summer.)
Yes, please illuminate their mistakes. Thank you in advance.At #56 I agree that both samples in the quoted text are WRONG.
Do I need to correct them?
A. This can only work as a negative statement, because of the way we use “until”. That fixes a point of reference. Something happened “last summer”. It seems you visited then, for the first time.A. I had visited Japan until last summer.
B. I had visited Japan for only once until last summer.
Thanks a lot!This can only work as a negative statement