@Shapeless,
Quote:Contrex:
In his reported speech, there are two events. Most recently, Jack saying something, and before that, his birthday.
Jack said that his birthday had fallen on the previous Friday.
Shapeless is right when he/she says there are not two events. Reported speech makes use of backshifted tense FORMs. It does not, [once again], have anything to do with a past tense, it is merely a PAST TENSE FORM to indicate that the speech is not a direct quotation.
Quote:Tanguatlay:
"My birthday fell on last Friday," said Jack.
This sounds slightly odd to me. Is it the choice of the verb "fall on" in this specific situation?
If the above is reported, which verb should I use?
Jack said that his birthday fell/had fallen on the previous Friday.
I think I should use 'fell'. Am I correct?
You could/can use either, Tanguatlay. It's reported speech so we have quite a bit of flexibility. CI's reply was also a very natural response.
Quote:Shapeless:
Using the past perfect here would imply that Jack's birthday once fell on last Friday but no longer does.
It wouldn't and it couldn't hold that meaning in this situation, Shapeless because this is a reported speech situation and the backshifting that occurs with reported speech has nothing to do with actual change of tenses which we normally use to discuss past events.
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