Imparfait vs p.c.

Question

But this morning I received an email which informed me that this item was now out of stock....

The correct answer is: mais ce matin, j'ai reçu un email qui m'informait que cet article était à présent en rupture de stock

but why not .....qui m'a informé que cet article est à présent en rupture de stock.

Accepted Answer

This is called indirect speech. There are rules for which tenses to use. You can check here for more detail: Indirect-speech/

Answer

Bonjour Laura,
Chris is absolutely right! Here is a link to a similar question: imperfect-and-passe-compose-in-mamie-gateau-lesson
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

I don't think that those rules tell you what tense to use for the reporting verb - the verb before the reported speech (i.e before the "que"). I would have thought the passé composé could also be used here.

Answer

If the event is in the past, and the direct speech was in present tense, then it is cast in imperfect tense, just as in English:

He said, "I am eating." --> He said that he was eating. --> Il a dit qu'il mangeait.

Answer

Yes, but I think we're talking about the choice between "m'informait" and "m'a informé" here. It's the equivalent of the word "said" in your example.