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Orlouge Posted 20 years ago
In common parlance, I've often heard statements such as, "I heard he
lived a good life." The "he" here usually denotes a person who lived a
while ago--centuries before or even longer back. Wouldn't the person
have lived long before the speaker "heard" of his lifestyle? While
playing a game, too, the other day, I came upon the sentence, "I heard
you acquired the Crystal of Mysidia." Again, wouldn't the Crystal
spoken of here have been acquired before the person received word? Why
isn't the past perfect employed more often in situations such as these?
I've reviewed the rules for the tense, but they don't seem to cover
every angle. Thanks for any help, as I appreciate it.
Grammar
Past Perfect
In common parlance, I've often heard statements such as, "I heard he
lived a good life." The "he" here usually denotes a person who lived a
while ago--centuries before or even longer back. Wouldn't the person
have lived long before the speaker "heard" of his lifestyle? While
playing a game, too, the other day, I came upon the sentence, "I heard
you acquired the Crystal of Mysidia." Again, wouldn't the Crystal
spoken of here have been acquired before the person received word? Why
isn't the past perfect employed more often in situations such as these?
I've reviewed the rules for the tense, but they don't seem to cover
every angle. Thanks for any help, as I appreciate it.
Top answer
Hi Orlouge, Welcome to the Forum. Let's take a simpler example. Tom heard that his mother died.
- Hi Orlouge, Welcome to the Forum.
- Let's take a simpler example.
- Tom heard that his mother died.
- You certainly could use the Past Perfect here, but we often don't bother to use it in cases where the sequence of events is clear without it.
- I think you'll agree that the sequence of events is clear here.
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1 Answers
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Hi Orlouge,
Welcome to the Forum.
Let's take a simpler example. Tom heard that his mother died. You certainly could use the Past Perfect here, but we often don't bother to use it in cases where the sequence of events is clear without it. I think you'll agree that the sequence of events is clear here.
Let's look at another situation.
Welcome to the Forum.
Let's take a simpler example. Tom heard that his mother died. You certainly could use the Past Perfect here, but we often don't bother to use it in cases where the sequence of events is clear without it. I think you'll agree that the sequence of events is clear here.
Let's look at another situation.
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