How are dialogue tags handled in past perfect?
Is it:
"I went to the police," she said.
or
"I went to the police," she'd said.
Is it:
"I went to the police," she said.
or
"I went to the police," she'd said.
Dialogue in past perfect
- Thread starter Jake Barnes
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"I went immediately to the police," she had said. Turns out she had done two loads of laundry and watched her favorite soap before she called the police to report finding her husband's lifeless body.
Usually the past perfect is used in relationship to another event in time. It demonstrates that one action is over and finished before another begins. She made the call and then her alibi started to unravel is the sense that i am getting. Is that what you meant?
Usually the past perfect is used in relationship to another event in time. It demonstrates that one action is over and finished before another begins. She made the call and then her alibi started to unravel is the sense that i am getting. Is that what you meant?
Last edited:
Something like:
I'd arrived early at the office, where I'd confronted my secretary.
"I went to the police," she said.
or
"I went to the police," she'd said.
I'd arrived early at the office, where I'd confronted my secretary.
"I went to the police," she said.
or
"I went to the police," she'd said.
Last edited:
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you would if you wanted to convey that the dialog was reporting an action that had taken place and was completed in the past. otherwise simple preterite will do the job.
Past perfect verb tenses get ugly real quick for a reader, especially when used repeatedly. Use simple past whenever possible, and as long as you've established the time frame, should not present a problem.
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