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Which of the following sentences is correct:

I've just uploaded the photo I had taken on Monday.

I've just uploaded the photo I took on Monday.

I guess that this sentence

Yesterday I uploaded the photo I had taken on Monday.

is correct but has different meaning than the first two.

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    This is proofreading. But both sentences are correct. They do (or can) mean different things, though. What meaning do you want to convey? [Edit your question to add more context]
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 13:03
  • @AndrewLeach, could you explain the difference between the first two?
    – Ellen Spertus
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 20:41
  • @espertus See my comment on Fumblefingers' answer, and indeed his [edited] answer.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Jan 15, 2014 at 0:14

1 Answer 1

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I admit I can't exactly explain why, but it seems to me including the word just (which in principle is syntactically irrelevant) makes Past Perfect more acceptable than it would have been. Consider...

1a: ?I have spent the money I had earned yesterday.
2a: I have spent the money I earned yesterday.

1b: ?I do not have the money I had earned yesterday.
2b: I do not have the money I earned yesterday.

With the construction reduced to its bare essentials like that, I'd have no hesitation in saying that linguistically, #1a / #1b are at the very least "unhappy" (most native speakers wouldn't like them). And prescriptive grammarians would doubtless say the tense mismatch is "ungrammatical".

As @Andrew comments below, OP's #1 might not be a Past Perfect usage at all. It could be Simple Past to have [something] XXXXed = to cause [something] to be XXXXed (by someone else)...

We had our wedding pictures taken by a professional photographer.

To clarify the different usages, consider...

Yesterday I cut my hair. (Simple Past - I did it myself)
Yesterday I had my hair cut. (Simple Past - I got someone else to cut it)
Yesterday I looked smart because I had cut my hair. (Past Perfect)

Note that the potential "ambiguity" of OP's #1 is an artefact of the written form. In "real" language (i.e. - the spoken form), if the Simple Past sense was intended, the word had would be stressed. That stress would unambiguously identify to have as the "primary" verb, rather than just the "helper" verb used to form the Past Perfect.

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    Just to add a little piquancy into the mix, to have taken (as an infintive phrasal verb) can mean to cause to be taken, which is why both the example sentences are correct and mean different things.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 14:01
  • @Andrew: You're right, of course. I don't suppose for one moment that OP intends that sense (which would sound very different in spoken form), but I'll edit my answer to cover it.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 14:09
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    For more complete completeness, you could also add Yesterday I looked smart because I had had my hair cut. (past perfect, got someone else to cut it)
    – Hellion
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 19:53
  • @Hellion: What I really wanted to come up with was a "subject-object-verb" sequence, so I wouldn't have to tinker with the word order in my final three examples. Even though I don't actually know any examples, I'm sure many other languages would have the equivalent of I my hair cut. But I don't feel too bad about not being able to think of an English version (or indeed, not knowing for sure if there is one). I'm still basking in the self-satisfaction of recognising that this "ambiguity" is peculiar to the written form, not a feature of "real" English.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 21:43
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    ...but I'm a bit disappointed everyone else wants to close this as proofreading. I have the definite sense that OP's just somehow muddies the waters in respect of reference time, and I was rather hoping there'd be some follow-up on that point.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 21:49

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