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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Have been usage
Hi, I have some basic misunderstanding on how to use "Have"
In a book, an author explains to second person the following lines
"Europe must then have been a wilderness. To-day Europe is strong and powerful"
"For ages past, the old civilization has been no more, and other ways have taken its place..."
"Dynasties of kings have ruled for hundreds of years and then been replaced by others"
In all these sentences, why the author used "have" while telling about past events? Whats wrong if the above sentence reads "Dynasties of kings had ruled for hundreds of years and then been replaced by others"
In a book, an author explains to second person the following lines
"Europe must then have been a wilderness. To-day Europe is strong and powerful"
"For ages past, the old civilization has been no more, and other ways have taken its place..."
"Dynasties of kings have ruled for hundreds of years and then been replaced by others"
In all these sentences, why the author used "have" while telling about past events? Whats wrong if the above sentence reads "Dynasties of kings had ruled for hundreds of years and then been replaced by others"
Top answer
Anonymous Hi, I have some basic misunderstanding on how to use "Have" Europe must then have been a wilderness. This is the modal perfect. " It is a past time verb form.
- Anonymous Hi, I have some basic misunderstanding on how to use "Have" Europe must then have been a wilderness.
- This is the modal perfect.
- " It is a past time verb form.
- " The present perfect is a past time verb form.
- " Anonymous Whats wrong if the above sentence reads "Dynasties of kings had ruled for hundreds of years and then been replaced by others" Then you are using the past perfect.
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2 Answers
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AnonymousHi, I have some basic misunderstanding on how to use "Have"Europe must then have been a wilderness.
This is the modal perfect. It is the present perfect of "be" with the modal "must."
It is a past time verb form.
"For ages past, the old civilization has been no more, and other ways have taken its place..."
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We use present perfect for recent past right ? If the author is telling about history, shouldn't be everything written in past tense?
You said its Ok to use past perfect, then what is the basic difference between
"Dynasties of kings have ruled for hundreds of years and then (had) been replaced by others"
"Dynasties of kings had ruled for hundreds of years and
You said its Ok to use past perfect, then what is the basic difference between
"Dynasties of kings have ruled for hundreds of years and then (had) been replaced by others"
"Dynasties of kings had ruled for hundreds of years and
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