past perfect well used?

Question

Good afternoon everybody from a rainy day in Montreal,

Do I say this in a right English:

How much does some under the unemployment insurance receive? The amount you receive is based on the salary you had received on the last 26 weeks you had been working when you lost your employ.

Thanks in advance,

SFB

Clive · Accepted Answer

Bonjour,

It's also a rainy day in Toronto.

How much does some under the unemployment insurance receive? The amount you receive is based on the salary you had received on the last 26 weeks you had been working when you lost your employ.

I'd say Past Perfect is not needed here, and would not commonly be used here. I've also made some other alterations.

How much does someone receive from the employment insurance plan? The amount you get is based on the salary you received in the last 26 weeks that you worked before you lost your job.

Please write again if you have any more questions about this. Clive

SpoonfedBaby · Answer

Hello Clive,

I would like to know if there are others possibilities of answers for this exercise:

John Latton, 39, an engineer at Felton Plastics in Upton, had a lucky escape after an accident on the A34 in the early hours of the morning. Mr Latton fell asleep while driving and crashed into a pile of sand left by workers who __1__ the road.
When he left Felton Plastics at 3.00 this morning, Mr Latton _2_ for 72 hours without any sleep.
A passing motorist discovered the accident after the engineer _3_ in his car with a broken leg for half an hour. Ambulance workers said that if Mr Latton _4_ any faster his injuries might have been much worse.

Answers:
1.had been repairing
2.had been working
3.had been lying
4.had been driving

Thank you for your very helpful help,

SFB

Clive · Answer

Hi,

John Latton, 39, an engineer at Felton Plastics in Upton, had a lucky escape after an accident on the A34 in the early hours of the morning. Mr Latton fell asleep while driving and crashed into a pile of sand left by workers who __1__ the road.
When he left Felton Plastics at 3.00 this morning, Mr Latton _2_ for 72 hours without any sleep.
A passing motorist discovered the accident after the engineer _3_ in his car with a broken leg for half an hour. Ambulance workers said that if Mr Latton _4_ any faster his injuries might have been much worse.

Answers:
1.had been repairing OK but 'had repaired' is possible, but not as good
2.had been working OK but 'had worked' is also possible
3.had been lying OK but 'had lain' is also possible

4.had been driving OK but 'had driven' is also possible

All the original answers are fine. There have been some questions recently in other threads about Past Perfect. I think this piece of writing is a good example of where the Past Perfect is needed.

Clive

Pieanne · Answer

May I intrude? (from a sunny day in France)

I'd say "were repairing" for the first, because they were working at the moment of the crash. The rest sounds fine by me...

Clive · Answer

Hi,

they were working at the moment of the crash

I think not, Pieanne. in the early hours of the morning he crashed into ... a pile of sand left by workers

I'd say "were repairing"

Nevertheless, you could say that, I admit, to suggest the repairs had not been completed. But I like Past Perfect here, because it seems important to make clear the sequence of events that led up to the accident.

Best wishes as usual, Clive

Pieanne · Answer

Oh yes, Clive, sorry, I had overlooked that part of the sentence! "... left by workers who had been repairing..." of course. My mistake!

Anonymous · Answer

I will be saving almost 200$ by 2019

past perfect well used?

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