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We have such a sentence:

I found some people who always wanted to walk in the forests.

Is it correct? I mean the second part has to be in Past Simple or Past Perfect like:

I found some people who had always wanted to walk in the forests.

Because if "wanted to walk" was happening at the same time as "found" then of course - Past Simple. But we have "always" which points at some experience because it should have some experience to become "always". From this point of view we can say:

I found some people who had always wanted to walk in the forests.

But at the same time we can say in Present Simple:

I always want to walk

Though it points at the experience from past to become 'always" and should be Perfect probably:

I have always wanted to walk

Which on to choose and will it different or what... I am tangled:(

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  • ell.stackexchange.com/questions/203169/… It depends on context. It does not depend on grammar. Please read that answer.
    – Lambie
    Commented Apr 1, 2019 at 14:08
  • I read it, thank you, it was helpful but not for my question. If it were: "I found people who wanted to go" meaning like they wanted at that exact time when i found them, then, yes, past simple. But I am confused with the word "always" which has to show some activity also from past till that moment of finding them. Commented Apr 1, 2019 at 14:20
  • It is exactly the same question. Both are grammatical but you need a reason to use "had wanted" instead of just "wanted". The adverb always can be used with any tense.
    – Lambie
    Commented Apr 1, 2019 at 14:26
  • It's like the Henry Ford's phrase "If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got". I don't understand the difference between "always do" and "have always been doing" because present simple should have started in the past to become some habbit and at the same time Present Perfect Continous shows the same action which started in the past and still happens Commented Apr 1, 2019 at 14:28
  • All of the versions you've given are correct. Context (and personal preference) determines which to use. Commented Apr 1, 2019 at 16:26

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