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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
PAST SIMPLE
Hello clever teachers
I saw this exemple in a corrected exercise:
He told me that he had broken his arm when he fell.
I dont understand why it is past simple for fell cause the broken arm happened after or at the same time he fell or was falling . I know it is reported speech so this is better to use past perfect but only for one verb?Wouldn't it be clever to use past perfect for the action that took place first?
I would write
He told me he broke his arm when he had fallen
What do you think of it?
I saw this exemple in a corrected exercise:
He told me that he had broken his arm when he fell.
I dont understand why it is past simple for fell cause the broken arm happened after or at the same time he fell or was falling . I know it is reported speech so this is better to use past perfect but only for one verb?Wouldn't it be clever to use past perfect for the action that took place first?
I would write
He told me he broke his arm when he had fallen
What do you think of it?
Top answer
Anonymous What do you think of it? It's not very good.
- Anonymous What do you think of it?
- It's not very good.
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7 Answers
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when he fell.= an adverb clause,
Being a subordinate clause, it is not affected by the backshift of tense in reported speech.
He said: "I broke my arm when I fell."
He told me that he had broken his arm when he fell.
Being a subordinate clause, it is not affected by the backshift of tense in reported speech.
He said: "I broke my arm when I fell."
He told me that he had broken his arm when he fell.
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ok
and in this case with also an adverbial clause because he had seen a cat
He said :"he was late because he had seen a cat".
He told me he had been late because he had seen a cat .
He told me he was late because he had seen a cat.
Thanks for your answer
and in this case with also an adverbial clause because he had seen a cat
He said :"he was late because he had seen a cat".
He told me he had been late because he had seen a cat .
He told me he was late because he had seen a cat.
Thanks for your answer
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The is different because the act of "seeing a cat" happened some time BEFORE the event of "being late".
He said: "I am late because I saw a cat."
In the previous sentence, the act of falling and breaking the arm happen simultaneously.
He said: "I am late because I saw a cat."
In the previous sentence, the act of falling and breaking the arm happen simultaneously.
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I had an accident because I was driving so fast
Reported speech I said I had had an accident cause I was driving so fast.
we consider that the driving and the accident happened roughly at the same time.
Is that ok?
but with this clause
I had an accident because I had been driving too fast for 2 hours
reported speech I said I had had an accident because I had been driving t
Reported speech I said I had had an accident cause I was driving so fast.
we consider that the driving and the accident happened roughly at the same time.
Is that ok?
but with this clause
I had an accident because I had been driving too fast for 2 hours
reported speech I said I had had an accident because I had been driving t
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I had an accident because I had been driving too fast for 2 hours - that is not logical. Driving fast for 2 hours does not cause an accident.
Driving too fast and losing control at a moment in time, or running a red light can be the cause of an accident. That is logical.
Driving too fast and losing control at a moment in time, or running a red light can be the cause of an accident. That is logical.
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