past perfect/past simple/present perfect

Which would be the most common response to the suggestion here?

- Why don't you send her some flowers?

(a)-- That's a good idea. I hadn't thought about doing that.

(b)-- That's a good idea. I didn't think about that.

(c) -- That's a good idea. I haven't thought about doing that.

b. sounds natural.

Either a or b, although to me a sounds better. It can't be c, because now the suggestion has been made, the person obviously has thought about it.

the common rule of the language : KISS
Keep It Short and Simple! <KISS>

(b) is the best answer because it is shortest and simplest.

(c) -- That's a good idea. I haven't thought about doing that.
or That's a good idea.I have never thought about doing that.

A is the one that seems most natural to me.

I agree; a) is the most natural in my dialect.

<<the common rule of the language : KISS
Keep It Short and Simple!>>

When does English ever keep it simple? I wouldn't use this as a 'rule' in trying to learn English.

>>When does English ever keep it simple? I wouldn't use this as a 'rule' in trying to learn English.<<

I would have to strongly agree here. For starters, English orthography is an incredible mess (not as bad as Tibetan orthography, but definitely worse than French orthography, where for its complexities one can generally figure out words' pronunciations from how they are written) - of course, we all already know this.

But it does not stop at there, as for all of English's "simplicity" with respect to syntax, English syntax and usage in Real Life can easily be extremely complex, especially when one considers things like phrasal verbs and idiomatic usages, of which there are many. Lack of inflection morphology (which English does definitely retain to a non-negligible degree to begin wityh) does not make a language "simple", and English definitely makes up for it with its cliticization and reduction patterns in everyday speech alone.

Even English phonology can be a pain for those whose languages only have a relatively small number of vowel phonemes or lack particular phonemes that English has, such as /T/, /D/, /w/, /N/, and so on. English phonology is probably only truly "easy" for speakers of other Germanic languages, which have relatively similar vowel systems and often have similar systems of distinguishing lenis and fortis obstruents (especially with how they, save Dutch, Afrikaans, Icelandic, and Faroese, use aspiration), but even speakers of those languages very often still lack the phonemes /T/, /D/, /w/, and for North Germanic speakers, /N/.

<the common rule of the language : KISS
Keep It Short and Simple! <KISS>

(b) is the best answer because it is shortest and simplest. >

That doesn't tell us anything about why many people use a).

<I would have to strongly agree here. For starters, English orthography is an incredible mess (not as bad as Tibetan orthography, but definitely worse than French orthography, where for its complexities one can generally...>

You seem to give lectures and not answers, Travis. For sure you could not be accused of using the KISS approach.

;-))

>>You seem to give lectures and not answers, Travis. For sure you could not be accused of using the KISS approach.<<

The matter is that most questions do not have simple answers, as much as some would wish that they had such.

<The matter is that most questions do not have simple answers, as much as some would wish that they had such. >

You seem to be the only one here who feels he has to write more than two paragraphs each time.

>>You seem to be the only one here who feels he has to write more than two paragraphs each time.<<

So? No one but yourself is forcing you to read them.

<<So? No one but yourself is forcing you to read them. >>

Travis, what is your answer to the topic question? I can't find it.

I would most likely use A. You could add "until now" at the end, which (I hope) better illustrates why the past perfect would be used rather than the other two tenses. But I would prefer B if the opportunity to give her flowers has passed: "I didn't think of that [at the time]."

This is pretty nitpicky, but, I would more likely say "I hadn't thought of that" instead of "I hadn't thought about that" or "I hadn't thought about doing that". To "think of an idea" means to get the idea, whereas to "think about an idea" suggests you already have the idea and you're pondering it. (However, in spontaneous speech, people tend not to think about their grammar down to the very last detail, so one could easily say it one way and mean it the other way.)

- Kef