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Deepcosmos Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
past vs past perfect
Hello everyone !
* My father [was / had been] in hospital for six weeks during the summer.
I think "for six weeks' and 'during' mean continuity and 'during' equals
to 'throughout an event'. Thus, 'had been' will be suitable in this context.
Will appreciate your anwer and thanks in advance.
* My father [was / had been] in hospital for six weeks during the summer.
I think "for six weeks' and 'during' mean continuity and 'during' equals
to 'throughout an event'. Thus, 'had been' will be suitable in this context.
Will appreciate your anwer and thanks in advance.
Top answer
deepcosmos I think "for six weeks' and 'during' mean continuity and 'during' equalsto 'throughout an event'. Thus, 'had been' will be suitable in this context. No, that is irrelevant to past perfect.
- deepcosmos I think "for six weeks' and 'during' mean continuity and 'during' equalsto 'throughout an event'.
- Thus, 'had been' will be suitable in this context.
- No, that is irrelevant to past perfect.
- Your understanding of that verb form is incorrect.
- Past perfect requires another past but more recent action .
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5 Answers
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deepcosmosI think "for six weeks' and 'during' mean continuity and 'during' equalsto 'throughout an event'. Thus, 'had been' will be suitable in this context.No, that is irrelevant to past perfect. Your understanding of that verb form is incorrect. Past perfect requires another past but more recent action.
My father was in hospital
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Thanks your reply.
"During" above means "through the whole of a period of time".
And then, can the expression - "during" and "for 6 weeks" - satisfy
the condition of past perpfect, which means an action that lasted from a previous past to a recent past ?
Your another explanation will be appreciated.
"During" above means "through the whole of a period of time".
And then, can the expression - "during" and "for 6 weeks" - satisfy
the condition of past perpfect, which means an action that lasted from a previous past to a recent past ?
Your another explanation will be appreciated.
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deepcosmosAnd then, can the expression - "during" and "for 6 weeks" - satisfythe condition of past perpfect, which means an action that lasted from a previous past to a recent past ?No, that is not what past perfect means. I repeat: it means an action which occurred before another past action (in cases where the order of the two events is otherwise unclear o
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deepcosmosI think "for six weeks' and 'during' mean continuity and 'during' equals to 'throughout an event'.There's something wrong with your reasoning here. Continuity, 'during', and 'throughout' do not indicate that the past perfect is necessary. Maybe you're thinking of something you read regarding
Thus, 'had been' will be suitable in this context.
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