[General] Mobile phone

[Tina3]

1Yesterday he told me he bought a new mobile phone.

2Yesterday he told me he had bought a new mobile phone.

Which is the correct one?
I am writing today about it. I met him yesterday.

 

[Rover_KE]

They are both correct.

 

[EnglishFix]

#1

 

[Raymott]

1Yesterday he told me he bought a new mobile phone.

2Yesterday he told me he had bought a new mobile phone.

Which is the correct one?
I am writing today about it. I met him yesterday.

2. might be right, but there's nothing in the context to show why you'd need the past perfect tense. Why would you want to use it here?

 

[emsr2d2]

I would use 2. The buying of the phone took place before the conversation yesterday, which took place before the retelling of the story today.

I think this is another AmE/BrE difference. In BrE, we would always say, for example "I told you I had done that!" but I have a feeling that in AmE, "I told you I did that!" would be perfectly acceptable.

He told me he had bought a car.
I met my friend just now and she told me she had booked a holiday.