All Questions
Tagged with perfect-aspect past-perfect
19 questions
1
vote
2
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844
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"they had renovated" vs "had been renovating"
How can I understand the sentence 1b?
1 a When I last went to Moscow, they had renovated St Basil's Cathedral.
b When I last went to Moscow, they had been renovating St Basil's Cathedral
The ...
user398042
0
votes
0
answers
26
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Which tense is appropriate? Simple or Perfect? [duplicate]
Consider the following two sentences:
Many buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.
Many buildings had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.
Which is appropriate, and why? I think ...
- 101
0
votes
1
answer
819
views
Should there be the Past Perfect? “He advised me to do as he said but I didn't pay any…” [closed]
Where is the error in the following line?
He advised me to do as he said but I didn't pay any attention to his advice.
I am confused what is the error here or even error been there or not?
As far ...
- 189
1
vote
2
answers
85
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"...like traffic lights which had gone mad" or "...have gone mad"? [closed]
Shall I use "have" or "had" in this sentence:
These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which had/have gone mad.
- 31
0
votes
1
answer
64k
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"have been requested", "has been" or "had been" [duplicate]
I always have difficulty in sorting out between "have been" and "had been", I face this issue a lot.
As an example, which one is correct?
The items have been requested by your team
The items ...
- 23
1
vote
3
answers
2k
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Should I repeat the past perfect "had"?
Jumping straight into my question, consider these two sentences:
He had finished the recitation and closed the book.
He had finished the recitation and had closed the book.
Which of the ...
3
votes
5
answers
2k
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"hadn't have killed" vs "hadn't killed"
Can someone help?
"Dave killed Peter."
Dave asked Susan, "why was Peter here?"
Susan said, "Maybe he would have told you if you hadn't have killed him."
Would there have been any difference if she ...
- 31
1
vote
3
answers
47k
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Difference between Present P. and Past P. for completed actions
I am always get into dilemma situation whether to use "I have" or "I had" for immediate past event.
For example:
I have discussed with you
or
I had discussed with you
The discussion ...
- 41
0
votes
0
answers
451
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Present perfect or past perfect? [duplicate]
Since I have stopped working, I started to learn English at home.
Since I had stopped working,I started learning English at home.
Are both questions having the same meaning in this context?
- 21
0
votes
1
answer
12k
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"Had been planning" or "were planning" What is the difference? [duplicate]
We_________(had been planning /were planning) to felicitate John at
our annual cultural fest when the news of his death______(had arrived
/arrived).
Can someone tell me which one to use and why, ...
4
votes
2
answers
11k
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Can "would rather" be followed with a past perfect?
Can "would rather" be followed with a past perfect? Can it be used to express a regret, a wish the past had been different?
Example taken from First Certificate Language Practice by Michael Vince, ...
- 4,142
1
vote
2
answers
16k
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‘He decided’ vs. ‘He had decided’
He decided that I could have the apartment before he looked at my credit report.
I found that sentence in an exercise, and I wonder why it isn't:
He had decided that I could have the apartment ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
25k
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What does "Compound Tense" mean? [closed]
I have problems with learning about "Compound Tenses".
Please help me.
- 437
3
votes
2
answers
1k
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Should “If I ever had a philosophy” be in the past perfect?
Excerpted from The Hills of Triumph:
If I ever had a philosophy with which to govern my social life, even long after learning that social is often at the detriment of personal, it would have been ...
- 117
1
vote
1
answer
2k
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Should “How long were you at work?” have a simple or a compound tense?
I would like to know, if the following sentence can ever be correct in any context?
How long were you at work?
Or it must be:
How long had you been at work?
For example:
How long were you ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
970
views
Using Past Perfect after an event
While reading a book, I came across some sentences that used past-perfect "after" an event had taken place. Actually, I've seen many books do this, so this must be the grammatically correct way, but I'...
- 233
1
vote
2
answers
629
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Present and past perfect dilemma
This sentence is giving me trouble:
For several days I (have/had) not had the chance to see her until a
few hours ago.
I think had is correct because the time reference is a few hours ago, which ...
- 387
1
vote
2
answers
13k
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Present perfect or past perfect with "yesterday"?
I have marked those books yesterday.
I had marked those books yesterday.
Which sentence is correct?
I know that:
The present perfect is used when an action begins in the past and continues into ...
- 131
6
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Speculative conditional: Why does it use the past tense or past perfect tense?
We use simple past to state a hypothetical present situation that we would like to speculate about (If they were here, I would be happy), past perfect for a hypothetical past (had they been here, I ...
- 3,508