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Kaibuto Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

A question about tense

Hello everyone. I have a question about tense. Hope I can find some help here. Thanks in advance.

1. The passengers were angry because the departure had been delayed for 4 hours.
2. The passengers were angry because the departure was delayed for 4 hours.

Is there any difference about meaning between "1" and "2" ? Could you describe the situation we can use "had been delayed" and the situation we can use "was delayed"
  

Top answer

Welcome to the forums. Both sentences are correct. The use of the past perfect tense in the first sentence simply puts the entire situation earlier in the past (as if in a narrative) relative to the present time when the sentence is being uttered.

— Philip

  • Welcome to the forums.
  • Both sentences are correct.
  • The use of the past perfect tense in the first sentence simply puts the entire situation earlier in the past (as if in a narrative) relative to the present time when the sentence is being uttered.
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5 Answers
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Emotion: shake handsWelcome to the forums. Both sentences are correct. The use of the past perfect tense in the first sentence simply puts t
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Thank you for your reply. So basically, 1 and 2 can replace each other? Right ?
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I mean, if I'm writing a report about this fact. It already happened so 1 and 2 are the same meaning right?
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Kaibuto1. The passengers were angry because the departure had been delayed for 4 hours.
My interpretation would be that the passengers were angry after waiting for 4 hours after they found out that the departure had been delayed.
Kaibuto2. The passengers were angry because the departure was delayed for 4 hours.
My interpreta
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Thank you very much CJ. I understand the difference already. Thank for spending your time.
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