he confirmed vs. he had confirmed that he had paid

[Jolyn78]

He had confirmed that we had paid.
He confirmed that we had paid.

Does the tense used change the meaning of the sentence?

Also can we use "to-date cost" to mean "cost to date"?
Thanks

[Bookaholic_English]

I would use neither of your sentences when there's no time point.
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[Jolyn78]

You mean both are not right?

[Beeesneees]

Hi Jolyn,

Your sentences are okay, they mean different things.

'He confirmed that we had paid' is the most common form. You had paid in the past. He confirmed it sometime between then and now.
'He had confirmed' is unusual here, because it sounds as if he has now withdrawn the confirmation.
It could be used like this, as an example: "He had confirmed that we had paid but then realised he was mixing us up with another family, so he rung them to explain.'

You could use 'to-date cost' as some sort of form for documentation, but as 'cost to date' is no greater in length and is correct, then personally I would just use that.
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