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Olgaa Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Past Perfect in Indirect speech

Can I use Past Perfect in the subordinate clause in the following sentence: "Nick noticed that Mr Brown had sent the document before we had arrived." It's clear that we should use the sequence of tenses here but using Past Perfect in both cases won't show us the priority of actions. Maybe the right variant "arrived" (Past Simple)? If yes, won't the latter variant mean that "arrived" and "noticed" took place at the same time?
  

Top answer

I think Past Perfect should be used in both cases, for otherwise you'll have only one of the subordinate clauses tense-shifted.

— Ant_222

  • I think Past Perfect should be used in both cases, for otherwise you'll have only one of the subordinate clauses tense-shifted.
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3 Answers
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I think Past Perfect should be used in both cases, for otherwise you'll have only one of the subordinate clauses tense-shifted.
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I wouldn't call a past perfect wrong here; but I think I would myself say "before we arrived".

MrP
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OlgaaIf yes, won't the latter variant mean that "arrived" and "noticed" took place at the same time?
No, because of the before. Nick noticed [this] before we arrived is quite clear enough. To make the noticing the prior event, you'd have Nick had noticed this before we arrived, but that is really excessive and unnecessary, in my op
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