Tenses
Are both sentences correct in terms of tense consistency?
I think that I can use both.
"She told me that she had gone through the list of everything you had ordered." (emphasizing the fact that the process of ordering something took place before the rest)
"She told me that she had gone through the list of everything you have ordered so far." (They might still order something.)
Thank you.
Top answer
" Past perfect seems all right here because it is consistent with the reporting verb 'told'. Since an utterance in the past is reported, it does not sound logical to stretch it till the present. Example: Last Tuesday, she told me that she liked the essays I had written.
- " Past perfect seems all right here because it is consistent with the reporting verb 'told'.
- Since an utterance in the past is reported, it does not sound logical to stretch it till the present.
- Example: Last Tuesday, she told me that she liked the essays I had written.
- I might have written a few more after that, but when she said that she referred only to the essays I had written until then.
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Ann225"She told me that she had gone through the list of everything you have ordered so far."
Past perfect seems all right here because it is consistent with the reporting verb 'told'. Since an utterance in the past is reported, it does not sound logical to stretch it till the present.
Example:
Last Tuesday, she told me that she liked the essay
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