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Wepro Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

WHICH TENSE ?

"He said he 'd spent all night solving a puzzle that he accidentally ___ in the newspaper ."

I 'm confused about whether to use "had seen" or "saw" here.
I lean towards the first but I'm not 100% sure .
Could anyone help me out ?
Thanks in advance
.
  

Top answer

Hi, Just say 'saw'. The sequence of events is clear with just Simple Past. In such cases, we commonly don't bother with the Past Perfect.

— Clive

  • Hi, Just say 'saw'.
  • The sequence of events is clear with just Simple Past.
  • In such cases, we commonly don't bother with the Past Perfect.
  • Clive
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2 Answers
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Hi,



Just say 'saw'.

The sequence of events is clear with just Simple Past. In such cases, we commonly don't bother with the Past Perfect.



Clive
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weprothat he accidentally __
Though it is not one of the choices, I would say that he'd accidentally seen, matching he'd ... seen with the earlier he'd spent. If it were he spent all night, I'd say he accidentally saw, again matching tenses.

CJ
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