Pay Attention to Time Line When Choosing Verbs

I am currently reading a wonderful book called "the blue cotton gown" (NOTE: The title IS in all lower case letters!)by Patricia Harman. It is about her experiences as a midwife in Appalachia.



I love the book, but one sentence I came across last evening bothers me because it uses the past perfect tense (HAD as a helping verb) in a confusing way. Here is the sentence:



When I called R. G.'s office to inquire about what was going on, her receptionist had told me R. was in Europe.



If you think of verb tenses in terms of a time line, there would be a crossbar in the middle of that time line for RIGHT NOW. Every verb expresses action in relationship to RIGHT NOW. So, when the author says "When I called...." she is setting up an event that happened in the PAST. Logic tells us that what the receptionist TOLD her should be in the same time frame as CALLED. However, the author uses HAD TOLD, which is incorrect because HAD TOLD would be used for something that happened farther back in the past--before the telephone call. The sentence should read as follows:



When I called R. G.'s office to inquire about what was going on, her receptionist told me R. was in Europe.



Below are some examples of how to use the past perfect tense (HAD + the verb) to express the correct time relationship:

• When I called to inquire about what was going on, the receptionist told me R. had been in Europe for the past three weeks.

• Before I accepted the teaching position, I had been working as a gardener.

• Although Peter now lived in Cleveland, he had grown up in Columbus.

If any of my regular readers would like a copy of my sample time line for choosing verbs correctly, please send along your e-mail address, and I will send a copy.