English Department

[glo]

Greetings,


That's right, but the not quite the whole story:

We know that the love had existed prior to the time of the statement, and prior to some other event in the past. That is the general usage of the past perfect tense.

Peace

Aha!

It strikes me that the sentence "She said she had loved me" on its own doesn't seem to make much sense.
It seems to demand further information - perhaps it is that second point in time you mention - to relate the sentence to.

It seems to become clear when I read the sentences you and I have given as examples:

"She said she'd loved me from the moment she saw me."
"She said she'd loved me until she found out about my unfaithfulness."