Hi everyone,
What is the exact difference between "as I expected " vs" as I had expected"? I found that they can both be collocated with past tense.
For example：
From a BBC documentary: It was not as successful as I expected.
From CNN: This was nothing as I expected purchasing my first home.
From a novel: I don't know what I had expected, but it definitely wasn't this.
From the IELTS test: So it all took longer than I'd expected.

Thank you

Question

Hi everyone,
What is the exact difference between "as I expected " vs" as I had expected"? I found that they can both be collocated with past tense.
For example： 
From a BBC documentary: It was not as successful as I expected.
From CNN: This was nothing as I expected purchasing my first home.
From a novel: I don't know what I had expected, but it definitely wasn't this.
From the IELTS test: So it all took longer than I'd expected.

Thank you

Answer

When we say not like I expected, we are using the past simple which is used to talk about a simple conpleted action in the past.
However when we say I had expected, we are using the past perfect simple. We use the past perfect simple to talk about an action that happened before another action in the past. The past of the past is you like ;) I hope that helps.