“Then I remembered that I had heard the rumor that there had been a shooting in the forest”
or should it be this: “Then I remembered that I had heard the rumor that there was a shooting in the forest” ?
What I mean by this sentence is that a shooting took place, but it’s not happening anymore.
I am insecure because I place the narrator in the past and tell about his past (I had heard…). Okay that’s how it goes, but what should I do if I then go even further in the past, ie in the past (had been a shooting…) of the narrator’s past (who is also in the past)?
I would be very happy to get an answer if possible. Teachers could never give a clear and adequate answer to this. You often get the answer that you can choose or that you have to ‘feel’ it. But I want to fully understand it and be able to apply it perfectly.
Or are there no formal rules for this?
Best regards
Answer
Dear Amaury
Thank you for understanding this problem! The basic difference between these tenses is that with the simple past (was) you situate an action or state completely in a moment in the past, while the past perfect (had been) indicates a connection between a moment in the past and an earlier moment in the past. the past (eg something happened before something else in the past). An example:
- We bought the house last year. (simple fit)
- We bought the house before we came to Belgium. (fits perfectly simple)
The sentence you quote is indeed a bit more complex because you bring together three moments in the past. Both verb tenses are possible here, but with different interpretation.
- I had heard the rumor that there used to be a shooting means that the shooting happened the moment you heard the rumor.
- I had heard the rumor that there had leg a shooting indicates that the shooting occurred before you heard that rumor (reporting the rumor of a shooting that had occurred before).
If I understand your explanation correctly, the second option is the appropriate one for the context you are describing.
Sincerely
Lieven Buysse
Answered by
Prof. dr. Dr Lieven Buysse
General Linguistics, English Linguistics, Dutch Linguistics
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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