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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

I regretted that I hadn't been kinder to her while she had been

0I'd appreciate it if someone would answer my questions. Thanks in advance.02br
02br
00Concerning the sentence: I regretted that I hadn't been kinder to her while she had been still alive. (Sorry no context)02br
02br
00 In the "that clause, Past Perfect is used both in the main clause and the subordinate clause. 02br
02br
00 What I want to ask is the following 2.02br
02br
00 Where is the reference point, the time I regretted or the time she died?02br
02br
00 I think "were still alive" is better than had been still alive. What do you think?0-
  

Top answer

" The reference point (from one point of view) is "regretted" - simple past. "Hadn't been kinder" is previous to that. 02br 02br 00What was your justification for the subjunctive?

— Avangi

  • " The reference point (from one point of view) is "regretted" - simple past.
  • "Hadn't been kinder" is previous to that.
  • 02br 02br 00What was your justification for the subjunctive?
  • 0-
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8 Answers
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0Unfortunately, we don't have a "past - past perfect." The reference point (from one point of view) is "regretted" - simple past. "Hadn't been kinder" is previous to that. The regretting seems to have followed her death, so the lack of kindness and the period during which it occurred were in the same time frame, which was prior to the regretting.02br
02br
00What was your
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1i00I 01b00regretted02b00 that I 01b00hadn't been02b00 kinder to her 01b00while 02b00she 01b00had been 02b00still alive.02i02br
00The sentence is perfect, IMO. 01b00While02b00 shows parallelism of time between 02br
01i01b00hadn't
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0-----Thank you Avangi. I see your idea.02br
00The expression using Subjunctive would be like this; I wished I had been kinder to her while [when] she was still alive.02br
02br
00By the way, "were still alive" can be used instead of "had been still alive"? 0-
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0>By the way, "were still alive" can be used instead of "had been still alive"?02br
00No 01b00was/were02b00 would work in the original sentence. See above: the effect of 01b00while02b00. 0-
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0-----Thank you Marius. I see very much.0-
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0 Google books shows that both are used in books with about the same frequency: 02br
01b0079202b00 on 01b00"had been * while she was"02b02br
05002br
01b0061502b00 on 01b00"had been * while she had been"02b02br
05102br
00however, I still prefer the 2nd. 0240h
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0Hi guys, I'm not sure I get the point. If the facts are that one thing happened in the simple past and two things both happened in the same time frame which was prior to that, why would we want to change those facts by altering the tenses out of respect to preference or frequency of use?02br
02br
00Re the subjunctive, "if" situations and "wish" situations are both typical
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0 Re: 02br
01i00I 01b00regretted02b00 that I 01b00hadn't been02b00 kinder to her 01b00while 02b00she 01b00had been 02b00still alive.02i02br
01i00I 01b00regretted02b00 that I 01b00hadn't been02b00 kinder to her 01
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