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Teleostomi Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
Past tense or Past Perfect? (from Tintin's "Red Rackham's Treasure")
The following quote is from Tintin's volume: Red Rackham's Treasure.
Quote:
Tintin was written in French, and translated into BrE.
I understand why the perfect tense was used in "we've already passed..." but don't understand why the past tense in "we saw nothing." even though it's British English.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Rackham's Treasure So we've already passed the right point, and yet we saw nothing...I simply can't understand it! |
Tintin was written in French, and translated into BrE.
I understand why the perfect tense was used in "we've already passed..." but don't understand why the past tense in "we saw nothing." even though it's British English.
Top answer
Paraphrase = While we were passing the right point, we failed to notice/see anything.
- Paraphrase = While we were passing the right point, we failed to notice/see anything.
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13 Answers
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Paraphrase = While we were passing the right point, we failed to notice/see anything.
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Hi feeb.
Would you have used the same tense? Which would you have said, "I have seen" or "I saw"?
Would you have used the same tense? Which would you have said, "I have seen" or "I saw"?
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So we've already passed the right point, and yet we saw nothing...I simply can't understand it!
My theory: By the sentence "We've already passed the right point," our attention is geared toward a past time. As "have -pp" is to be used to refer to a past time which has a close connection with the present, using the perfect tense there is not
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Seems strange to me.
Probably: Present perfect used for a moment in order to bring the time to NOW, make the story more lively.
Probably: Present perfect used for a moment in order to bring the time to NOW, make the story more lively.
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Hi marius.
Am I right that I thought that you meant using "I saw nothing" seems strange to you?
Am I right that I thought that you meant using "I saw nothing" seems strange to you?
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TeleostomiHi marius.What would you have considered using and why?
Am I right that I thought that you meant using "I saw nothing" seems strange to you?
To me, using present perfect followed by present perfect would have been unnecessarily long-winded. Also, no sense has been lost through not using it.
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BokehBokeh has a point.TeleostomiHi marius.What would you have considered using and why?
Am I right that I thought that you meant using "I saw nothing" seems strange to you?
To me, using present perfect followed by present perfect would have been unnecessarily long-winded.
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Thanks!
I guess Swan is a British English speaker, but does he have in mind both BrE and AmE usages when he wrote it?
What would be BrE speakers' opinion on this? I guess Bokeh is American (aren't you?).
I guess Swan is a British English speaker, but does he have in mind both BrE and AmE usages when he wrote it?
What would be BrE speakers' opinion on this? I guess Bokeh is American (aren't you?).
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In my humble opinion,
'So we've already passed the right point, and yet we saw nothing'
present perfect is used because we are no longer at the right point (but we are not mentioning time) and than Past simple is used because we are speaking about past (already mentioned by saying "we've passed").
In my view the word 'YET' in this text means 'DESPITE THAT' and not unti
'So we've already passed the right point, and yet we saw nothing'
present perfect is used because we are no longer at the right point (but we are not mentioning time) and than Past simple is used because we are speaking about past (already mentioned by saying "we've passed").
In my view the word 'YET' in this text means 'DESPITE THAT' and not unti
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