My friend asked me if I received an email she sent me last week, so I told her I did get it, but forgot to reply. She then told me this: "I was just making sure that you had gotten my email […]"
How is this correct? It seems a bit unnatural for her to use past perfect, when she could have said "I was just making sure that you received my email". She is American, so I assume it is correct, but I've never heard of such a phrase before.
Best Answer
If I understand correctly, what confuses you is the use of past perfect (had gotten/had received) instead of past simple (got/received).
The typical use of past perfect is a past action completed before another past action. You receiving the email was before her making sure of it. That is why if making sure of it is in the past, receiving it should be even earlier in the past, which means past perfect.
So yes, her sentence is grammatically the best choice here. Yours would be a very commonly used one, which does not follow the correct grammar rules. She could have also said "I just want to be sure that you have got it." (Which is a version of what she actually used, only avoiding the past tense.)