Past Perfect

Question

Hi! I have a question about past perfect tense. I know that it is used with past tense to talk about events that happened before. But, what if two events happened before? Do we have to use past perfect tense for both?

For example, can I write, 'Smith told me that he had thanked the guy who had given him the money'?

Or should I write, 'Smith told me that he had thanked the guy who gave him the money'?

It's confusing

Thanks

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I have a question about past perfect tense. I know that it is used with past tense to talk about events that happened before. But, what if two events happened before? Do we have to use past perfect tense for both? You can, but you don't have to.

For example, can I write, 'Smith told me that he had thanked the guy who had given him the money'? Yes.

Or should I write, 'Smith told me that he had thanked the guy who gave him the money'? This is fine, and probably more natural.

Even more natural is simply

'Smith told me that he thanked the guy who gave him the money'.

It's usually a matter of whether the sequence of events is clear without the Past Perfect. This seems clear to me. Don't you agree?

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

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Past Perfect

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