had previously stated

Question

I have attached my online bank statement to this email, and you will find that all my stays have been paid for and settled as I had/have previously stated.

Should I use the present perfect or past simple here? Will both work in this situation?

Thank you!

KrisBlueNZ · Accepted Answer

I have attached my online bank statement to this email, and you will find that all my stays have been paid for and settled, (suggest comma here) as I ~~had/~~have previously stated.

PreciousJones · Answer

KrisBlueNZI have attached my online bank statement to this email, and you will find that all my stays have been paid for and settled, (suggest comma here) as I had/have previously stated.

Why is it:

I have previously stated, when the statement was made in an earlier email? Shouldn't the past tense be used?

Thanks!

PreciousJones · Answer

bump

KrisBlueNZ · Answer

I can't explain it with the proper grammatical terms; I can just tell you how these words are used.

When we're talking about things that were said, or stated (the formal version of said), usually you want to point out that the statement has already been made; the information in it isn't new. Your example also does this. This claim contains an implication that the statement is still valid now. Idioms that are used in these sentences include "As I [have] previously stated, ..." and "I [have] already/previously said/stated/told_you/warned_you/explained [that] ...".

These forms, which imply that the statement is still valid now, use (or imply) have. I have already said it; it has already been stated.

If you use had, or was, you are now implying that what was said may no longer be applicable. This is simply because if what was said is still applicable, the speaker/writer would use have or has (explicit or implied); the fact that he uses had or was makes it clear that he is only commenting on what was said; the reader/listener would then hope that he would continue, and explain the present situation.

So to summarise, "... all my stays have been paid for and settled, as I have previously stated" = "I claim that my stays have all been settled; I said this previously, and I still claim this to be true".

"... I had previously stated that all my stays had been paid for and settled. I have now discovered two trips that I did not include (or ... that I had not included) in my list. ...".

PreciousJones · Answer

Thank you for the perfect explanation.

had previously stated

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