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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
'ago' with a past perfect
Practical English Usage Third Edition by Michael Swan says :
We use 'ago' with a past tense and a time expression to 'count back' from the present : I met that woman in Scotland 'three years ago.'
(NOT ... three years before / before three years.)
We can use 'before' in the same way (with a past perfect tense) to count back from a past moment : When we got talking, I found out that I had been at school with her husband 'ten years before.'
(NOT... ten years ago.)
Q. I want to ask you a question. Can' I use 'ago' with a past perfect to count back from the present? If so, the following sentence is ungrammatical? i.e, 'His father had died a few years ago.'
We use 'ago' with a past tense and a time expression to 'count back' from the present : I met that woman in Scotland 'three years ago.'
(NOT ... three years before / before three years.)
We can use 'before' in the same way (with a past perfect tense) to count back from a past moment : When we got talking, I found out that I had been at school with her husband 'ten years before.'
(NOT... ten years ago.)
Q. I want to ask you a question. Can' I use 'ago' with a past perfect to count back from the present? If so, the following sentence is ungrammatical? i.e, 'His father had died a few years ago.'
Top answer
Anonymous Can' I use 'ago' with a past perfect to count back from the present? If so, the following sentence is ungrammatical? ' I can't think of a context in which that is satisfactory.
- Anonymous Can' I use 'ago' with a past perfect to count back from the present?
- If so, the following sentence is ungrammatical?
- ' I can't think of a context in which that is satisfactory.
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4 Answers
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AnonymousCan' I use 'ago' with a past perfect to count back from the present? If so, the following sentence is ungrammatical? i.e, 'His father had died a few years ago.'I can't think of a context in which that is satisfactory.
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Anonymous When we got talking, I found out that I had been at school with her husband 'ten years before.The postposition "ago" introduces the passage of time from now to the determined point in the past, e.g., "5 years ago".
The postposition "before" (in the cited sentence) introduces the passage of time from the past event (here, the moment in the p
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Anyhow, according to the usage of "ago" which implies connection of the past with the present, Can I use 'ago' with a past perfect, depending on context? If so, please, give ma an example. T.T
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AnonymousCan I use 'ago' with a past perfect, ... please, give me an example.Here are three examples from news articles and one from a novel by George Eliot.
The mother was reunited with the daughter she thought had died 50 years ago.
A medical call resulted in the police finding the body of a woman who had died months ag
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