He went out for dinner.
Which tense we should use to connect them?
Or: He had locked the door before going out for dinner.
Tell me which one is better? and the meaning of each one?
Neither one is necessarily better, but we would normally use simple past there. There is, absent context, no reason to use past perfect there.
I will put my sentence in a situation like that: My house has been stolen and I want to insist to everybody that I locked the door before going out. Whether I should use the past perfect tense?
" I had locked the door before going out for dinner"
Oh, by the way, what is an absent context?
He locked the door before (he) went out for dinner.
As I know, "before" is a prep and be followed by a noun or a gerund. So I don't think we should omit the subject (He). How about you?
I am no teacher. But what you say sounds ok to me. However, in general conversations, that sentence is often heard.
I agree with Solace- it should be 'before going' or 'before he went'.
If I say "Neither one is necessarily better" then I mean that there is no reason to believe that one is better than the other.
Context is the surrounding sentences--the sentences that come before and after a sentence.
Another question: Which cases should we use past perfect tense?
If you say so, everybody can understand you. However I think it is not a standard English.
simple past and past perfect.