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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Past perfect usage
Hi. I think, if I could put it correctly, a past perfect tense indicates an action or event that is before another action or event. If the past perfect tenses below are correctly used, could you tell me why past perfect tenses are correct?
It detailed his life - a life that had lived through many trials and tribulations.
This course is the best course he had ever taken/had ever taught.
It detailed his life - a life that had lived through many trials and tribulations.
This course is the best course he had ever taken/had ever taught.
Top answer
It detailed his life - a life that had been lived through many trials and tribulations. This course is the best course he had ever taken/had ever been taught . Past perfect can be used in those sentences if the author wishes to emphasize the pre-existence of those actions ( had been lived, had ever taken / been taught ).
- It detailed his life - a life that had been lived through many trials and tribulations.
- This course is the best course he had ever taken/had ever been taught .
- Past perfect can be used in those sentences if the author wishes to emphasize the pre-existence of those actions ( had been lived, had ever taken / been taught ).
- However, neither is really necessary, since the sequence of past events is evident.
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2 Answers
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It detailed his life - a life that had been lived through many trials and tribulations.
This course is the best course he had ever taken/had ever been taught.
Past perfect can be used in those sentences if the author wishes to emphasize the pre-existence of those actions (had been lived, had ever taken / been taught). However, neither is really ne
This course is the best course he had ever taken/had ever been taught.
Past perfect can be used in those sentences if the author wishes to emphasize the pre-existence of those actions (had been lived, had ever taken / been taught). However, neither is really ne
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Hi
Yes, that’s correct. The past perfective aspect expresses ‘anterior time’ referring to the past tense (i.e. one step further back in time). In your first example you can clearly see the relationship between the past tense and past perfective aspect:
I detailed (past) his life – a life that had lived (past perfective) through many
Yes, that’s correct. The past perfective aspect expresses ‘anterior time’ referring to the past tense (i.e. one step further back in time). In your first example you can clearly see the relationship between the past tense and past perfective aspect:
I detailed (past) his life – a life that had lived (past perfective) through many
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