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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

past perfect?past simple

Hello teacher

Is it better to write

I had been looking for it for a long time, I thought I did not find it anymore
and I was wrong: I found it
or
I looked for it for a long time , I thought I did not find it anymore and I was wrong: I found it
I think the first one is better because it emphasises on the duration
What do you think?
  

Top answer

Various parts of this are not right. I wonder if you mean something like this: 1) I had been looking for it for a long time. I thought I would never find it, but I was wrong.

— GPY

  • Various parts of this are not right.
  • I wonder if you mean something like this: 1) I had been looking for it for a long time.
  • I thought I would never find it, but I was wrong.
  • I did.
  • 2) I looked for it for a long time.
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6 Answers
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Various parts of this are not right. I wonder if you mean something like this:

1) I had been looking for it for a long time. I thought I would never find it, but I was wrong. I did.
2) I looked for it for a long time. I thought I would never find it, but I was wrong. I did.

These are both possible. (1) is written looking back on the period of searching from the viewpoint of t
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Thank you that is what I mean
If I change " I thought .....find it"by "I did not expect to find it any more" Is that ok
I had been looking for it for a long time.I did not expect to find it any more, but I was wrong. I did

Thanks for answering
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AnonymousThank you that is what I meanIf I change " I thought .....find it"by "I did not expect to find it any more" Is that okI had been looking for it for a long time.I did not expect to find it any more, but I was wrong. I didThanks for answering
No, "I did not expect to find it any more" is not right. "any more" is used when you do something one or more ti
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Thanks
In fact I would like to say that first "I expected it" then " I stopped expecting it ", and "it was when I stopped expecting" that I found it
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Hmm, I see what you mean. I read "I did not expect to find it any more" to mean that you had previously been finding it, but expected not to find it any more in the future. Looking again, I think that your more sensible interpretation is also possible, in which case it would be correct.
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