He added how much he had not wanted to leave their house but that he had agreed with another friend's advice there that he had needed to be independent.
Hi
Could I get some help with this sentence please? I am unsure if I have used the past perfect here correctly. I used the past tense for "added" because I am reporting his speech which happened in the past. I used the past perfect for everything else because those are thoughts that the person had made before the night that he gave the speech. I am really unsure because the sentence reads unnaturally. Could you use the past tense if those thoughts were still valid at the time the person recounted them during a speech?
The context of this sentence is my recounting of someone's speech, in which the person was paying tribute to his friends.
He added how much he had not wanted to leave their house but that he had agreed with another friend's advice there that he had needed to be independent.
Thank you so much in advance.
Best wishes
PBF
Top answer
It does sound past perfect heavy. that he needed to be independent. But what you have isn't really wrong.
- It does sound past perfect heavy.
- that he needed to be independent.
- But what you have isn't really wrong.
- It just sounds a tad unusual.
- "
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It does sound past perfect heavy. I'd use the simple past at the end: ...that he needed to be independent. But what you have isn't really wrong. It just sounds a tad unusual. Additionally, I don't understand what the word "there" has to do with the sentence: "...advice there that he had needed..."
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