He told me that she had had an accident. vs He told me that she had an accident.

Both phrases are correct, but they have different meanings. The first phrase 'he told me that she had had an accident.' indicates that the accident happened before the conversation took place. The second phrase 'he told me that she had an accident.' simply states that she experienced an accident at some point in the past.

Last updated: March 19, 2024 • 4518 views

He told me that she had had an accident.

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate that the accident occurred before the conversation.

This phrase is used to talk about an event that happened before another past event that is being discussed.

Examples:

He told me that she had had an accident before she arrived at the party.
She said that she had had a headache all day.
I found out that he had had a difficult childhood.
They mentioned that they had had a great time on their vacation.
The teacher explained that the students had had enough time to complete the assignment.

Show examples from the web [+]

Jul 1, 2015 ... He told me that she had had an accident on her way to work. (He told me about her accident in the past. She had the accident before his action ...

Alternatives:

he told me that she had an accident.
he told me that she has had an accident.
he told me that she was in an accident.
he told me that she had been in an accident.
he told me that she got into an accident.

He told me that she had an accident.

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to simply state that the person experienced an accident in the past.

This phrase is used to report a past event that the speaker was informed about.

Examples:

He told me that she had an accident while skiing.
She told me that she had an accident on her way to work.
I heard that he had an accident last week.
They informed me that she had an accident on the highway.
The doctor said that she had an accident during the surgery.

Show examples from the web [+]

Jan 13, 2012 ... he told me that she had an accident at a young age and lost her life as a result. There was also another music teacher, Mr John Shirley, ...

Alternatives:

he told me that she had had an accident.
he told me that she has had an accident.
he told me that she was in an accident.
he told me that she had been in an accident.
he told me that she got into an accident.

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He told me that she had had an accident. vs He told me that she had an accident.