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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
past perfect
Hi,
Does this show a correct past perfect usage?
When he became president, we had all hoped he would lead us out of this rut.
Does this show a correct past perfect usage?
When he became president, we had all hoped he would lead us out of this rut.
Top answer
It may be grammatically correct in terms of the time line - that is, the "hopes" may have preceded the "becoming," but logically, absent context, it's unnatural. "We had all hoped that when he became president he would lead us out of this rut," would be more natural. This way, it's more obvious that the hopes came first.
- It may be grammatically correct in terms of the time line - that is, the "hopes" may have preceded the "becoming," but logically, absent context, it's unnatural.
- "We had all hoped that when he became president he would lead us out of this rut," would be more natural.
- This way, it's more obvious that the hopes came first.
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5 Answers
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It may be grammatically correct in terms of the time line - that is, the "hopes" may have preceded the "becoming," but logically, absent context, it's unnatural. "We had all hoped that when he became president he would lead us out of this rut," would be more natural. This way, it's more obvious that the hopes came first.
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Avangi, did you just edit your post? I thought I saw the term tossup. I looked it up but couldn't find a good explanation and here I'm, hoping you could explain it briefly. But it's not there anymore. Did my mind play tricks on me again?
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Guilty as charged. I realized that my meaning was unclear.
"Tossup" alludes to the flip of a coin (unless you've seen the two-headed coin in the new Batman flick).
When there are two possible interpretations of a sentence, often one is more likely than the other. But if there is no clear choice between them, we could say the odds are 50-50, or it's a tossup as to which meaning
"Tossup" alludes to the flip of a coin (unless you've seen the two-headed coin in the new Batman flick).
When there are two possible interpretations of a sentence, often one is more likely than the other. But if there is no clear choice between them, we could say the odds are 50-50, or it's a tossup as to which meaning
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Okay, I think I've got it.
When he became president we had all hoped that he would lead us etc.
We had all hoped that when he became president he would lead us etc.
The real difference is that in the second one, "we had all hoped" applies to both of the following clauses, to the extent that "he would lead" is the object of hoped, and t
When he became president we had all hoped that he would lead us etc.
We had all hoped that when he became president he would lead us etc.
The real difference is that in the second one, "we had all hoped" applies to both of the following clauses, to the extent that "he would lead" is the object of hoped, and t
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