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Vicente P. Teng II Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Past Perfect Tense
It's hard for me to understand about past perfect tense. I wrote sentences which the time was messy.
Here are some sentences.
-I had been studying in college for a year and I stopped studying.
-I realized that I did not touch something hot when I had forgotten how to avoid from the fire.
-My friend had met me since I was standing on the sidewalk.
-My family had been cleaning the house for all morning and then a visitor came.
-I had reviewed Physics since the last two hours.
Here are some sentences.
-I had been studying in college for a year and I stopped studying.
-I realized that I did not touch something hot when I had forgotten how to avoid from the fire.
-My friend had met me since I was standing on the sidewalk.
-My family had been cleaning the house for all morning and then a visitor came.
-I had reviewed Physics since the last two hours.
Top answer
None of those should use past perfect . -- The order of actions is clear, so no past perfect. - - Did she see me eating?
- None of those should use past perfect .
- -- The order of actions is clear, so no past perfect.
- - - Did she see me eating?
- The order of event is unclear.
- -- Use past perfect if she didn't see me eating.
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8 Answers
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None of those should use past perfect. Use past perfect only when the order of two indicated past events is otherwise unclear:
I ate breakfast before she arrived.-- The order of actions is clear, so no past perfect.
I ate breakfast when she arrived.-- Did she see me eating? The order of event is unclear.
I had eaten breakfast w
I ate breakfast before she arrived.-- The order of actions is clear, so no past perfect.
I ate breakfast when she arrived.-- Did she see me eating? The order of event is unclear.
I had eaten breakfast w
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Ah I got it.
I had done my homework when my teacher came in the classroom.
My sister had clean her room since my mother left for work.
I had done my homework when my teacher came in the classroom.
My sister had clean her room since my mother left for work.
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Not quite yet.
I had done my homework when my teacher came in the classroom.-- Good.
My sister had cleaned her room since my mother left for work.-- No: the word 'since' not only orders the two events, but you have also used past perfect for the more recent event; past perfect is used to refer to the earlier event.
My sister had clean
I had done my homework when my teacher came in the classroom.-- Good.
My sister had cleaned her room since my mother left for work.-- No: the word 'since' not only orders the two events, but you have also used past perfect for the more recent event; past perfect is used to refer to the earlier event.
My sister had clean
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Oh i see. Give me more conjunction words for past perfect used, so I want to know.
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Can't think of any offhand. Don't think 'conjunction word'; think about whether the two events are clearly ordered logically or by common sense. If not, use pp.
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but it can be: my sister has cleaned her room since my mother left for work.
or should it be has been cleaning.
or should it be has been cleaning.
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My sister has cleaned her room since my mother left for work.-- The cleaning is complete.
...has been cleaning...-- The cleaning is continuing now.
...has been cleaning...-- The cleaning is continuing now.
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