[Grammar] thought you forgot/ had forgotten

[andi harper]

You can use past simple in your examples if you're referring to another event or time:

I thought we moved past this last year.
I thought you left during the intermission.
I thought I lost it when we went to the bathroom.
I thought I turned it off ​before the play started.

Are you saying that you don't agree with Jutfrank's post #26 and what I said in post #41?

 

[GoesStation]

Now that I've got that out of the way, I would like to focus on the situations when I'm talking to a person in front of me in the present time, I say:
I thought we moved/had moved past this. ( when you think you've already gone over a subject but your friend brings it up again)
I thought you left/had left. ( you think the person has left but later you see him again)
I thought I lost/had lost it. ( you think you've lost your handbag etc. but then find it)
I thought I turned/had turned it off. ( then your cellphone rings)
I think that in all of the examples above logically past perfect should be used and the reason is that this is effectively reported speech about an action in the past and we need backshift. But, we could also use past simple in all of them, and I have your post to back me up on this, since I'm saying that from a present perspective and the sequence is understood, so there's no need for past perfect.
Now I need you to tell me if I'm right or wrong.
Thanks.

Are you saying that you don't agree with Jutfrank's post #26 and what I said in post #41?

Without further context, the four sentences you posted in post 41 should use the past perfect. The past simple becomes possible if you add context.

 

[andi harper]

I re-read my post a little while ago and noticed that the sentence could also work with the past perfect. Let me try to improve it by adding context.

I: "Hi, Andi! How are you?"
Andi: "I'm fine, thanks. I haven't seen you since Waiting for Godot. Lucky sure made a dramatic speech, didn't he?"
I: "I thought you left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"

Hi.
I was re-reading your posts and this one throws me completely off. I can't seem to understand why past simple is used here. Can't it be used with past perfect?
"I thought you had left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"

 

[andi harper]

Hello, GoesStation.
Would you mind explaining to me why in your post #10 the sentence can't be used with past perfect?
"I thought you had left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"

 

[andi harper]

Hi.
If you could please reply to my questions in posts #46,47.

 

[GoesStation]

Hello, GoesStation.
Would you mind explaining to me why in your post #10 the sentence can't be used with past perfect?
"I thought you had left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"

Hi.
I was re-reading your posts and this one throws me completely off. I can't seem to understand why past simple is used here. Can't it be used with past perfect?
"I thought you had left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"

Hi.
If you could please reply to my questions in posts #46,47.

I guess you're wondering why we wouldn't say this:

"I thought you had left before the second act. Where have you heard Lucky's speech?"

When I use the simple past in the second sentence, I'm thinking "you weren't in the theater during Lucky's speech. Did you hear it at another performance?"

I'm sorry if this doesn't help.

 

[andi harper]

I guess you're wondering why we wouldn't say this:

"I thought you had left before the second act. Where have you heard Lucky's speech?"

When I use the simple past in the second sentence, I'm thinking "you weren't in the theater during Lucky's speech. Did you hear it at another performance?"

I'm sorry if this doesn't help.

Hi.
Thanks for replying, but you got me wrong, I was asking about the first sentence. In post #10 (please take a look) you used it with past simple("I thought you left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"), so I'm asking why it can't be used with past perfect("I thought you had left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?").

 

[GoesStation]

OK. To relieve the burden on our co-Internauts, I'll quote post #10 here. When I wrote "the sentence", I was referring to a sentence I wrote in post #8 with the simple past.

I re-read my post a little while ago and noticed that the sentence could also work with the past perfect. Let me try to improve it by adding context.

I: "Hi, Andi! How are you?"
Andi: "I'm fine, thanks. I haven't seen you since Waiting for Godot. Lucky sure made a dramatic speech, didn't he?"
I: "I thought you left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"

Hi.
Thanks for replying, but you got me wrong, I was asking about the first sentence. In post #10 (please take a look) you used it with past simple("I thought you left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?"), so I'm asking why it can't be used with past perfect("I thought you had left before the second act. Where did you hear Lucky's speech?").

The answer is that past perfect also works there.