Had seemed
"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin."
Please explain the use of the past perfect (had seemed to me) and the use of "would " in "life would begin".
Top answer
"had seemed" is relative to some viewpoint in the past, such as a time when he reflected/realised how it had seemed, or a time when his outlook changed. "would" can be understood as future-in-the-past (present-tense version: "... there is something to be gotten through first ...
- "had seemed" is relative to some viewpoint in the past, such as a time when he reflected/realised how it had seemed, or a time when his outlook changed.
- "would" can be understood as future-in-the-past (present-tense version: "...
- there is something to be gotten through first ...
- Then life will begin").
- It might also be understood as expressing a hypothetical event, or perhaps some kind of mixture of the two.
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"had seemed" is relative to some viewpoint in the past, such as a time when he reflected/realised how it had seemed, or a time when his outlook changed. "would" can be understood as future-in-the-past (present-tense version: "... there is something to be gotten through first ... Then life will begin"). It might also be understood as expressing a hypothetical event, or perhaps some kind of mixt
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