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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Help me to understand past perfect cont.
I am having difficulty understanding when to use past perfect continuous. Here is an example from x-files.
A doctor died in a plane crash and Mulder is working the crush site.
He says, "looks like the doctor may have been delivering more than babies".
The way I understand past perfect is if there is an event/action that precedes another past event/action one has to use past perfect.
So, in this particular case, "delivering more than babies" precedes the death. Therefor why is it not "... may had been delivering ..."?
I need someone to point out the flaw in my understanding of past perfect.
A doctor died in a plane crash and Mulder is working the crush site.
He says, "looks like the doctor may have been delivering more than babies".
The way I understand past perfect is if there is an event/action that precedes another past event/action one has to use past perfect.
So, in this particular case, "delivering more than babies" precedes the death. Therefor why is it not "... may had been delivering ..."?
I need someone to point out the flaw in my understanding of past perfect.
Top answer
The structure you suggest is impossible in English. The past forms of auxiliary verbs are different. If I had been there, I would have bought you a sandwich.
- The structure you suggest is impossible in English.
- The past forms of auxiliary verbs are different.
- If I had been there, I would have bought you a sandwich.
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1 Answers
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.
The structure you suggest is impossible in English. The past forms of auxiliary verbs are different.
If I had been there, I would have bought you a sandwich.
.
The structure you suggest is impossible in English. The past forms of auxiliary verbs are different.
If I had been there, I would have bought you a sandwich.
.
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