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Sesquipedalian101 Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Past Tense Vs Past Participle
Please take a look at the following sentence.
"Previously, when Mary and her friend, who were regular customers at MAC Cosmetics, did what Mary did on 12th September 2014, the Store had not taken issue with them."
Should the first "did" be changed to "had done" to read,
"Previously, when Mary and her friend, who were regular customers at MAC Cosmetics, HAD DONE what Mary did on 12th September 2014, the Store had not taken issue with them." ?
Thank you very much for your help.
"Previously, when Mary and her friend, who were regular customers at MAC Cosmetics, did what Mary did on 12th September 2014, the Store had not taken issue with them."
Should the first "did" be changed to "had done" to read,
"Previously, when Mary and her friend, who were regular customers at MAC Cosmetics, HAD DONE what Mary did on 12th September 2014, the Store had not taken issue with them." ?
Thank you very much for your help.
Top answer
Selvakumar Should the first "did" be changed to "had done" to read, No. Nor does the context offer any rationale for 'had not taken', which I would change to 'did not take'.
- Selvakumar Should the first "did" be changed to "had done" to read, No.
- Nor does the context offer any rationale for 'had not taken', which I would change to 'did not take'.
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3 Answers
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SelvakumarShould the first "did" be changed to "had done" to read,No. Nor does the context offer any rationale for 'had not taken', which I would change to 'did not take'.
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Thank you very much, Mister Micawber.
Would it make a difference if the first "did" refers to an earlier date. For instance,
"Previously, when Mary and her friend, who were regular customers at MAC Cosmetics, DID (= on 11 January 1963) what Mary did on 12th September 2014, the Store DID not issue with them." ?
Would it make a difference if the first "did" refers to an earlier date. For instance,
"Previously, when Mary and her friend, who were regular customers at MAC Cosmetics, DID (= on 11 January 1963) what Mary did on 12th September 2014, the Store DID not issue with them." ?
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SelvakumarWould it make a difference if the first "did" refers to an earlier date.No, that is not sufficient reason. Past perfect is called for in cases where the earlier of two past times is not made clear through other means. Here, the word 'previously' makes the order of events clear.
Here is a simple example:
I ate dinner when Mary
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