Which one of the following sentences is correct?
1. She said that his parents died while he was still at school.
2. She said that his parents had died while he was still at school.
3. She said that his parents had died while he had been at school.

Question

Which one of the following sentences is correct?
1. She said that his parents died while he was still at school.
2.  She said that his parents had died while he was still at school.
3.  She said that his parents had died while he had been at school.

Answer

Sentence 1 is correct because the two actions "his parents died" and "he was still at school" occurred at the same time, so you can use the Past Simple for both sentences.

Sentence 2 is also possible. This is because the action "his parents had died" happened before "she said", and so "his parents had died" is in the Past Perfect.

Sentence 3 is not correct. "While he was still at school" is a time phrase to indicate a specific time period. We often use verbs in the Past Simple (or the Past Continuous) for phrases like this. Here are some more examples:

"While I was living in Spain.."
"When I was a child.."
"While I was studying at university"
"When I was a teacher.."

If you have any doubts, please let me know.

Jamie (www.italki.com/jamie.teacher)

Answer

2.  She said that his parents had died while he was still at school.

Answer

1. She said that her parents died when she’s still in school

She, her not she his

Answer

HI Anna,

Sentence 1 and 2 are both possible. Sentence 3 is incorrect. I will explain below.

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