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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

'had' and 'has'

"Originally, rock & roll {had} been around in the United States sometime between the 1940’s and the 1950’s."

In this sentence, is 'had' correct or should I have used 'has'?
  

Top answer

"has been" is not correct there. The possibilities are "was" (simple statement of past situation) or "had been" (going further back in time from a point already in the past). The choice between these depends on the wider context.

— GPY

  • "has been" is not correct there.
  • The possibilities are "was" (simple statement of past situation) or "had been" (going further back in time from a point already in the past).
  • The choice between these depends on the wider context.
  • Personally I prefer "1940s" to "1940's".
  • "between the 1940s and the 1950s" sounds odd to me.
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2 Answers
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"has been" is not correct there. The possibilities are "was" (simple statement of past situation) or "had been" (going further back in time from a point already in the past). The choice between these depends on the wider context.

Personally I prefer "1940s" to "1940's". "between the 1940s and the 1950s" sounds odd to me. There is no time "between" those decades.
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