[Grammar] past sentence

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"I killed him because he was the intruder" ("He" is the intruder)

Does the tense of second clause depend on first clause tense?
 

Rover_KE

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In this context, you need '...because he was an intruder'.

Please note that a better title would have been I killed him.

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'
 

Matthew Wai

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If the speaker tracked down and killed him some time after he had committed a crime as an intruder, would it be correct to say 'I killed him because he had been the intruder'?

Not a teacher.
 

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In this context, you need '...because he was an intruder'.

Please note that a better title would have been I killed him.

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'
"He" should be an intruder in a specific situation
 

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If the speaker tracked down and killed him some time after he had committed a crime as an intruder, would it be correct to say 'I killed him because he had been the intruder'?

Not a teacher.

"I forgave him even he had killed my son"
is this right?
 

Rover_KE

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Matthew Wai

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Did the above 'No' apply to my question or the OP's or both?
 

emsr2d2

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Both "I killed him because he had been an intruder" and "I forgave him even he had killed my son" are incorrect.

I killed him because he was an/the intruder.
I forgave him even though he had killed my son.
 

Matthew Wai

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I killed him because he was an/the intruder.
If the speaker killed him some time afterward when he was no longer an intruder, should 'was' still be used?
 

bhaisahab

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What do you think, Matthew?
 

Matthew Wai

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What do you think, Matthew?
I think 'he had been the intruder' should be used because his being the intruder happened before his being killed.

Not a teacher.
 

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Both "I killed him because he had been an intruder" and "I forgave him even he had killed my son" are incorrect.

I killed him because he was an/the intruder.
I forgave him even though he had killed my son.

Both 'Even' and 'Though/Although' have same translation in my language but they are different in English.
 

bhaisahab

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I think 'he had been the intruder' should be used because his being the intruder happened before his being killed.

Not a teacher.

I would use "was". "had been" is not wrong but I don't find it very natural.
 

Matthew Wai

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I would say 'I forgave him for killing my son'.

Not a teacher.
 

Matthew Wai

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I killed him because he was an/the intruder.
As 'was' applies to both 'his being the intruder being simultaneous with his being killed' and 'his being the intruder being prior to his being killed', does it mean there is no need to distinguish between 'being simultaneous with' and 'being prior to' in this context?

Not a teacher.
 
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