Tagged Questions
-1
votes
1answer
124 views
Simple past vs past perfect [duplicate]
Simple past and past perfect are so confusing...
Please tell me if any of the sentences below make (or makes?) sense:
1) She had already opened the package before I had the chance to tell her not ...
0
votes
2answers
180 views
“Had been engaged when they married” vs. “were married” vs. “had married”
Which of the sentences below are grammatically correct?
The couple had been engaged for five years when they married.
The couple had been engaged for five years when they were married.
The ...
-1
votes
2answers
259 views
Simple past vs. past perfect
Which is correct to use in the following example, simple past or past perfect?
We were completely in the dark after the wind blew the candle out.
We were completely in the dark after the wind ...
1
vote
3answers
221 views
Past perfect or past simple in combination with present perfect?
Suppose I received a document from my colleague, studied it and then gave him feedback in a letter. How should I construct the following sentense?
I have examined the document you gave me and...
...
2
votes
5answers
391 views
“I knew him for…” or “I had known him for…”?
I'm writing a short story, and I'm unsure about the right tense to use. The first two sentences are:
I knew Mr. Brown for exactly 15 minutes. He had met me at the
entrance and was now ...
-1
votes
1answer
337 views
“was” vs. “had been” [closed]
At the end of "Fear is the Key," Alistair MacLean wrote
And so it had been with my red rose, before it had turned to white.
When I tried to recall that line, though, what I got was
And so it ...
0
votes
2answers
414 views
Past Perfect sentences with “before”
I had seen a documentary on the Whydah before we visited it in Providence.
Sir Francis Drake had worked for the British Navy before he became a pirate.
These two sentences seem quite awkward to ...
-1
votes
1answer
397 views
Past Perfect and gerund vs. Past Perfect and Simple Past [closed]
When using the past perfect tense to say something happened before something else, is it correct to use the gerund form (as opposed to the past tense) to express the latter event? For example, is it ...
1
vote
3answers
276 views
Past perfect in the specific sentence
I am not sure about using the past tenses here:
Yesterday I saw my friend who had just finished the university and
wanted to go out.
Is that correct? I am not sure about the past perfect but ...
2
votes
3answers
293 views
Using modal verb 'could' for simple past
If I form a sentence like:
I could read the book if I hadn't wasted my time.
Would it be considered a past perfect sentence with the part I could read the book being in simple past for context ...
1
vote
3answers
2k views
“Get used” vs “got used”
I'm learning English grammar with the book by Raymond Murphy: English Grammar in Use [3rd Edition]. In the exercises for unit 61, I have to complete the sentences using used to. I can't understand why ...
