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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

is already superfluous in this sentence

Hi there. I was wondering, in this sentence,

"Before I arrived at the station, the train had already left."

Is the word "already" acceptable here? I know the sentence works fine without it, but is it still ok to include it for emphasis even though"before" already marks the time?

Thanks everyone in advance
  

Top answer

Anonymous I know the sentence works fine without it, Not really, since past perfect seems a little redundant with 'before', which conveys the same meaning. A good stylist would probably write this: When I arrived at the station, the train had left . That said, it is still OK to include 'already' for emphasis.

— Mister Micawber

  • Anonymous I know the sentence works fine without it, Not really, since past perfect seems a little redundant with 'before', which conveys the same meaning.
  • A good stylist would probably write this: When I arrived at the station, the train had left .
  • That said, it is still OK to include 'already' for emphasis.
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4 Answers
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AnonymousI know the sentence works fine without it,
Not really, since past perfect seems a little redundant with 'before', which conveys the same meaning. A good stylist would probably write this:

When I arrived at the station, the train had left.

That said, it is still OK to include 'already' for emphasis.
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AnonymousIs the word "already" acceptable here?
"already" is probably the most regularly occurring adverb with the past perfect tense — even though it does seem redundant.

CJ
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This mean we can use "already" in this sentence, although it is redundant but not affect to mean of sentence?
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ThuyxinhThis mean we can use "already" in this sentence, although it is redundant but not affect to mean of sentence?
Yes, it just adds emphasis.
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