Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Jerry Chen]

Hello,


Please read this sentence:

Why hadn't I told my father that I loved him?


For this part "hadn't told," is it just a past perfect or can it be interpreted as a hypothetical clause?

Thanks for your help!!

[asterix]

I would interpret it as past perfect. The writer is asking himself why he had not told his father that he loved him at some time in the past. Possibly, his father is now dead.
I don't see it as hypothetical, but as a completed action in the past that the writer is now questioning.