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Fattyshank Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Had or have?

Hello.

I'm in the situation when I eventually face "something" that I've been afraid of for a long time. But what should I exactly say if that moment of my "being afraid" is now over but I want to express that "something" really made me afraid all the time. Can I say: "This is what I had been afraid of all along" instead of have been?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

In my opinion, if that moment of your being afraid of something is over, you can very well use "had been". "I had been afraid of tigers all my life until I saw a tiger in reality"

— Karansardana

  • In my opinion, if that moment of your being afraid of something is over, you can very well use "had been".
  • "I had been afraid of tigers all my life until I saw a tiger in reality"
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3 Answers
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In my opinion, if that moment of your being afraid of something is over, you can very well use "had been".

"I had been afraid of tigers all my life until I saw a tiger in reality"
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Hi,

You can use had been only if another action happened after your being afraid.

Finally, we broke up. That's what I had been afraid of all along.

Regards
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Okay, thanks, but I can't stop thinking about situations when people usually say "I hadn't thought of that" after they've been given another solution or anything they have/had never thought of before. Please, can you help with that?
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