0
Victo Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

'had' = past before the past?

Are these grammatically correct?

1) Joe said that Mike 'had' crashed (or crashed) his car into the median yesterday.

Because it happened yesterday, do we automatically use 'had'?
  

Top answer

victo ) Joe said that Mike 'had' crashed (or crashed) his car into the median yesterday. Because it happened yesterday, do we automatically use 'had'? no

— Canadian45

  • victo ) Joe said that Mike 'had' crashed (or crashed) his car into the median yesterday.
  • Because it happened yesterday, do we automatically use 'had'?
  • no
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
victo) Joe said that Mike 'had' crashed (or crashed) his car into the median yesterday.
Because it happened yesterday, do we automatically use 'had'? no
0
0
Joe said that Mike crashed his car into the median yesterday. -- simple past you do not need "had."

Joe said that Mike had crashed his car into the median yesterday before he went to school. -- past perfect, use "had' to distinguish that the past action of crashing occured before the other past action of going to school.
0
0
KJinCali79use "had' to distinguish that the past action of crashing occured before the other past action of going to school.
But the sequence of events is clear even without "had".
0

Related Questions