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Diamondrg Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

tense sequence

Is it normal to use present perfect in the subordinate clause after said? Which action happens first in this sentence? Said or have combed?

But the Times said that NSA technicians have combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might lead to terrorists.

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Top answer

The sentence is perfectly normal. Think about it, and I believe you can answer your own question about what happened first! The Times is a newspaper.

— CalifJim

  • The sentence is perfectly normal.
  • Think about it, and I believe you can answer your own question about what happened first!
  • The Times is a newspaper.
  • If they "say" something it means they write it in the newspaper.
  • They reported something.
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6 Answers
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The sentence is perfectly normal.

Think about it, and I believe you can answer your own question about what happened first!

The Times is a newspaper. If they "say" something it means they write it in the newspaper. They reported something.

Generally speaking, first the event happens, then newspapers report it, right?
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CalifJimThe sentence is perfectly normal.

Think about it, and I believe you can answer your own question about what happened first!

The Times is a newspaper. If they "say" something it means they write it in the newspaper. They reported something.

Generally speaking, first the event happens, then newspapers report it, right?
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why didn't they use "simple past" or "past perfect" instead of present perfect?
When reporting, they were keeping the sentence as close as possible to the original.
"He has met with Mr. X.," said Mary.
Mary said that he has met with Mr. X.

[What if] they used simple past or past perfect instead of present perfect?
Mary sai
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can "present perfect" express an action which happened before "simple past"?
Yes. Just a moment ago I remarked what a fine job Rob Marshall has done as director of Memoirs of a Geisha.

This is not a typical pattern, of course. I would normally say "had done" in that sentence. Still, these combinations are possible, and they are used.

F
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I immediately tell someone else: "He said he has been having trouble with the present perfect tense". This sounds perfectly natural to the native speaker.
I think you may be right as long as spoken English is concerned. But I, as a learner of English, am hesitant to write such tense-reversed indirect speech sentences. I googled on CNN.com, NYTimes.com and BBC.co.uk for "H
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Thank you Jim and paco.
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