.... but I (had) promised ...

Question

Hello,can you please advise me what tense I should use in the second part of the sentence?"I regret keeping you out of it but I ___ (promise) not to tell anyone."I would use Past Perfect "had promised", am I right?Thank you

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

HotmaleI would use Past Perfect "had promised", am I right?

Yes, for emphasis, but you needn't; simple past will serve.

Laborious · Answer

Hotmale"I regret keeping you out of it but I ___ (promise) not to tell anyone."

Hello HM,

I think yes, you're right in using the 'past perfect' there, because the past perfect is used to make it clear which of the two events in the past happened / existed earlier. You regret that you kept/have kept somebody out of something, since you had promised not to tell anyone. But I also think that 'past simple' is correct, too, in that sentence. I don't see anything worng with using the 'simple past'. Do you think using the simple past (promised) would be incorrect in that sentence?

Edit: I couldn't see your reply Mister Micawber. Apologies for repeating what you had already told. ....

Hotmale · Answer

Thank you both! <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

.... but I (had) promised ...

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