"He says that he had dreamed of climbing the mountain since he was a toddler." (Secondary 2, unit 6) Is this sentence correct?
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Yes, it is correct and it is an example of very natural language. The first verb is in the present (1) because the present is commonly used in journalism to report what is said in an interview or (2) because Omar says this whenever you ask him about his climbing. The second verb is in the past perfect because he is talking about something that happened in the past before his climb. The present perfect (He says that he has dreamed of climbing...) would not work here because the climb has already taken place. Thus the past perfect is used.