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The Rescue Service said it WAS CALLED to support the coastguard to look for missing people.

The Rescue Service said it HAD BEEN CALLED to support the coastguard to look for missing people.

Which is correct to use?

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    We can't answer unless you tell us the surrounding sentences. What are they? Both of these sentences are possible depending on context.
    – Peter Shor
    Feb 21 at 21:22
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    Your title is misleading because both sentences use the pasive. Also, did you check existing questions? I'm fairly certain that this is a duplicate of many earlier ones.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Feb 22 at 3:45

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This issue is covered by Huddleston & Pullum (2002), §6.2.2.

If the Rescue Service said "We were called," you could use either the backshifted "The Rescue Service said that it had been called" or the non-backshifted "The Rescue Service said that it was called."

If the Rescue Service said "We have been called," you could use either the backshifted "The Rescue Service said that it had been called" (identical to the above) or the non-backshifted "The Rescue Service said that it has been called."

The backshifted and non-backshifted versions are equivalent and equally correct, though the latter emphasizes that their statement is still true in the present and would likely only be used if the incident was very recent.

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  • They would not be "equivalent" in meaning if this were a trial in a court of law.
    – Lambie
    Nov 28 at 16:15

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