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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

I am trying to identify the grammatical structure of certain parts of sentences I have been given. Unfortunately, I am baffled with the parts I have been asked to identify in the following three pairs of sentences. Please help, and thank you for your time and guidance!

(a) She [had] her house [painted]
(b) She [had painted] her house

(a) He stopped [to smoke] a cigarette
(b) He [stopped smoking] cigarettes

(a) You [must see] him
(b) You [must have seen] him
  

Top answer

Hi, (a) She [had] her house [painted] >> Her house was painted by somebody else (a painter) (b) She [had painted] her house >> She painted the house herself. ] (a) He stopped [to smoke] a cigarette >> He stopped doing whatever he was doing (es. ) in order to smoke a cigarette.

  • Hi, (a) She [had] her house [painted] >> Her house was painted by somebody else (a painter) (b) She [had painted] her house >> She painted the house herself.
  • ] (a) He stopped [to smoke] a cigarette >> He stopped doing whatever he was doing (es.
  • ) in order to smoke a cigarette.
  • (b) He [stopped smoking] cigarettes >> He quit smoking.
  • He didn't smoke cigarettes any longer.
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2 Answers
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Hi,

(a) She [had] her house [painted]>> Her house was painted by somebody else (a painter)
(b) She [had painted] her house >> She painted the house herself. [Note: Past perfect generally requires some context, so this sentence could mean that she had painted the house before something else happened.]
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I know what each sentence means. What I was seeking to do was identify the grammatical structures involved, i.e. "past perfect." Thanks, anyway.

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