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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Uses of past perfect

hi, please I want to know what should I say in case I'm using the indirect speech, as I found in a course I am taking nowadays (a conversational course) that sometimes they use the past and some other times they use the past perferct as the following:

1-using the past:

ex1: Tom asked me If I felt the earthquake last night

ex2: He told me it woke him up last night

2-using the past perfect:

when I told my mother mother that I had won 2 million dollars,she said .....

so why they used the past in the first two examples althought the moment of telling these things was later than the moment in which these events were taking place

or it's possible in the slang english

thanks
  

Top answer

Slang has nothing to do with it. Past perfect is little used when simple past makes the logical sequence of past event clear. #2 does not require past perfect, while #1 could use past perfect if the speaker wishes to stress the priority of the earthquake.

— Mister Micawber

  • Slang has nothing to do with it.
  • Past perfect is little used when simple past makes the logical sequence of past event clear.
  • #2 does not require past perfect, while #1 could use past perfect if the speaker wishes to stress the priority of the earthquake.
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2 Answers
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Slang has nothing to do with it. Past perfect is little used when simple past makes the logical sequence of past event clear.
#2 does not require past perfect, while #1 could use past perfect if the speaker wishes to stress the priority of the earthquake.
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