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Wai_Wai Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Had been already OR was already; best 5(th)…
1. The teacher __ already in the classroom before students came in.
a) had been
b) was
Which one is correct (a) (a )or (b)?
If both are correct, what's the difference (in meaning etc.)?
2. I __ already very hardworking. Still my mark is a bit worse than the best 5th student.
a) had been
b) was
Which one is correct (a) (a )or (b)?
If both are correct, what's the difference (in meaning etc.)?
And what is meant by "the best 5th student" / "the best 5 students"?
Is "the best 5 students" = "Top 5 students"?
a) had been
b) was
Which one is correct (a) (a )or (b)?
If both are correct, what's the difference (in meaning etc.)?
2. I __ already very hardworking. Still my mark is a bit worse than the best 5th student.
a) had been
b) was
Which one is correct (a) (a )or (b)?
If both are correct, what's the difference (in meaning etc.)?
And what is meant by "the best 5th student" / "the best 5 students"?
Is "the best 5 students" = "Top 5 students"?
Top answer
There is no call for the past perfect in either sentence, Wai Wai. It can't work anyway because the verb phrase should be 'had already been', not 'had been already'. 'The best 5th student' is not natural English to me, and might be rewritten to read 'the fifth-best student'.
- There is no call for the past perfect in either sentence, Wai Wai.
- It can't work anyway because the verb phrase should be 'had already been', not 'had been already'.
- 'The best 5th student' is not natural English to me, and might be rewritten to read 'the fifth-best student'.
- Alternatively, your suggestion, 'the best five/ five best students' would work fine.
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6 Answers
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There is no call for the past perfect in either sentence, Wai Wai. It can't work anyway because the verb phrase should be 'had already been', not 'had been already'.
'The best 5th student' is not natural English to me, and might be rewritten to read 'the fifth-best student'. Alternatively, your suggestion, 'the best five/ five best students' would work fine.
'The best 5th student' is not natural English to me, and might be rewritten to read 'the fifth-best student'. Alternatively, your suggestion, 'the best five/ five best students' would work fine.
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So which is correct:
- was already
- had already been
If both are correct, will the difference in tense make the sentence different?
- was already
- had already been
If both are correct, will the difference in tense make the sentence different?
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And moderator, I would like to know why the "edit post" button is not available for the first post.
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If someone has posted a reply to your post, you will not be able to edit it.
If editing were allowed, the reply might not apply to the edited post!
If editing were allowed, the reply might not apply to the edited post!
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Ok.
Maybe you could allow post-ers to edit (as a side-note) at the bottom of original post.
And indicates the edit time when one edits a post.
Maybe you could allow post-ers to edit (as a side-note) at the bottom of original post.
And indicates the edit time when one edits a post.
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Grammatically the past perfect is possible in these two sentences, but is natural in neither, because the time relation is clear without its use. If it is unclear which came first, or you want to stress that one past event came first, complete and independent of the second past event, past perfect is called for with both verbs. If the two actions are causally related, then use simple past for b
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