Question on tense and parallel structure?

[nonionay]

"he said he'd already eaten"
"he'd said he'd already eaten"
"he said he already ate."


Context is" "He hadn't been lying when he said he'd already eaten. Myrtle the temple clerk gave him a chicken leg and gravy-soaked chunk of bread for staying late, but he'd already burned through it. He was always hungry, and not just because he let his mother and sisters eat everything."

It's bugging the heck out of me, but I'm going to move on. Seriously.

EDIT: Thanks guys. I've always had decent grammar naturally, but I can never remember the actual rules and terms, preventing me from accomplishing truly good grammar.

Comments

[westrider.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure you've got it right in the passage there. I can't remember enough of my grammar to explicitly lay out why that's right, but I'm pretty sure that it is. I know it's not the third one, and I think the second one would also be grammatically correct, but would be used if you wanted to put a bunch of extra emphasis on the fact that he had said this, which doesn't feel like what you're going for.

[bsdotrand.livejournal.com]

I agree, the first one and the one in your context sound right to me

[leitadlifi.livejournal.com]

i third that.

[laurajerry.livejournal.com]

"he said he'd already eaten" is definitely correct, (trust me I teach this every day) but what's bothering me is why did you write "he hadn't been lying"? Perhaps if I saw the sentence before it, then it would make sense, but right now I don't see any reason not to say "he wasn't lying". -- That is, use the simple past, instead of the present perfect.

[laurajerry.livejournal.com]

FYI:
"he said he'd already eaten" = present perfect
"he'd said he'd already eaten" = bad grammar - not used
"he said he already ate" = simple past (but also poor grammar in this case because of the context and the use of "already")

[criada.livejournal.com]

You're probably right.

[dark-opus.livejournal.com]

I'm with you regarding the itching powder effect certain passages can spawn. Nag, nag, nag, and you feel like you've crossed the event horizon with only fervent prayer to the Omnipotent Jean-Luc Picard left to see you through.

These days I try to be sensitive to my radar pings for such troublesome passages as an impetus to rewrite. That's not easy, since I hate walking away from a good fight I'd really like to win.