>I HAD sworn never to enter the discussion of the 'had' of the pluperfect again,
but, since this time it is not Brad who has introduced it, here goes.

The original becomes acceptable if the context continued thus:

 "In the past, you had contacted me in regard to the Obama/Pelosi healthcare
bill.  However, you will remember that I replied, explaining my position in
full.  Now you approach me again as if I had not replied."


Both the 'had's' here are normal English, making the time relations clear:
first, the contacting, then the replying, and, finally, a look back to the
reply.

Edmond


Dr. Edmond Wright
3 Boathouse Court
Trafalgar Road
Cambridge
CB4 1DU
England

Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/elw33/
Phone [00 44] (0)1223 350256








This does look like an instance of the increasingly common but still
marginal 
> use of had+pp to mark remote past, in contrast to the simple past marking a
> more recent past.  I've run into this fairly often in the speech and writing
> of my students, and when they understand that their usage is making a
> grammatical distinction that Standard English marks lexically if at all they
> have little trouble adapting to the more formal academic register.
> 
> Herb
> 
> Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
> Emeritus Professor of English
> Ball State University
> Muncie, IN  47306
> [log in to unmask]
> ________________________________________
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Beth Young [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: November 30, 2009 3:55 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: thinking of Brad
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I just spoke with a member of the community (a very nice 81yo man) who called
> the dept to ask a grammar question, and Brad, I thought of you. :)  The caller
> read to me from a letter from his congressman that began with this sentence:
> 
> "In the past, you had contacted me in regard to the Obama/Pelosi healthcare
> bill."
> 
> The caller wanted to know the name of "that tense that uses 'had'."  I think
> he was planning to write back to his congressman and tell him to make better
> verb choices.
> 
> Beth
> 
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