Peter may have been irascible and unpleasant

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence is grammatically correct.

Peter may have been irascible and unpleasant but he had never let anyone take advantage of him.

 

[emsr2d2]

I see no reason for the past perfect in the second half.

 

[Bassim]

RobertJ,

I wanted to describe how Peter behaved in the past, not in the present. He may be dead.

 

[emsr2d2]

If he's alive, you can use:

... but he has never let anyone take advantage of him.
... but he never let anyone take advantage of him.

If he's alive and you start with "Peter might be irascible ...", you can end with "... but he has never let anyone take advantage of him".

If he's dead, use "Peter might have been irascible and unpleasant but he never let anyone take advantage of him".

 

[andrewg927]

RobertJ,

I wanted to describe how Peter behaved in the past, not in the present. He may be dead.

Well, you really need to establish whether he is dead or alive. We talk about dead people differently than we do someone alive.