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Vanillabean Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Begin, began, begun - Having began?
I am writing a letter, of sorts, and have to use some standard wording based on a specific law. I have a problem with the wording in one. The sentence is....."The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years having began before December 1975." Everytime I read this I cringe. I want to change it to "having begun" but I am not sure that is correct either. Since there is an auxiliary verb present, it seems appropriate to use the past participle of "begin"; but all the handy little grammar books I have at my desk say not to use a past participle form to express the past tense. I think the original author was trying to form the past perfect tense by using the auxiliary "having" instead of "had".
If you can help me out I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
If you can help me out I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
Top answer
Having begun is correct unless have ( it ) begin. eg Please have him call me when he is back. The sentence sounds strange, though.
- Having begun is correct unless have ( it ) begin.
- eg Please have him call me when he is back.
- The sentence sounds strange, though.
- How about ' The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years starting ( beginning ) before December 1975 ' ?
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9 Answers
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Having begun is correct unless have ( it ) begin.
eg Please have him call me when he is back.
The sentence sounds strange, though. How about ' The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years starting ( beginning ) before December 1975 ' ?
eg Please have him call me when he is back.
The sentence sounds strange, though. How about ' The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years starting ( beginning ) before December 1975 ' ?
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In your sentence, "having begun before 1975" is modifying "years", leading to absurd modification.
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nope
it has to be put in front
Having begun before 1975, the blank ......... ( so the phrase is modifying the subject ' the blank '
it has to be put in front
Having begun before 1975, the blank ......... ( so the phrase is modifying the subject ' the blank '
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I myself get confused 
since the sentence itself doesn't sound right after all.
since the sentence itself doesn't sound right after all.00
I think I'd make it more obvious, maybe even two sentences, or at least a semicolon - tho because you've left "blank" I'm not sure of the exact semantics, so this might be wrong!
The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years; the occupancy having begun before December 1975."
The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years; the occupancy having begun before December 1975."
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0 Uh, no that's totally wrong and since this was written in 2004 I do hope India has gotten better in teaching English and grammar usage 0-
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0 Hello, 02 br
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00 The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years having begun before December 1975. 02 br
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00 Other than changing from “began” to “begun”, I think the passage is fine. 00 00 Of course, this is no simple sentence. 02 br
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00 I wouldn't even kn
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00 The blank must have been used and occupied for five or more years having begun before December 1975. 02 br
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00 Other than changing from “began” to “begun”, I think the passage is fine. 00 00 Of course, this is no simple sentence. 02 br
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00 I wouldn't even kn
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'began' is the simple past tense and cannot use an auxiliary verb (have, has, had)
'begun' requires the helping verb
also, substitute 'prior' for 'before' to avoid the awkward structure
i.e., more years 'began' prior to December 1975
or more years 'having begun' prior to December 1975
'begun' requires the helping verb
also, substitute 'prior' for 'before' to avoid the awkward structure
i.e., more years 'began' prior to December 1975
or more years 'having begun' prior to December 1975
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