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Lcchang Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

perfect tense

0I saw the following sentences in my textbook:02br
01ol
    02br
    01li
  1. 02br
    02br
    00I had been there before.02br
    02li
    2. 02br
    01li
  2. 02br
    02br
    00He had lived in Hong Kong for five years.02br
    02li
    3. 02br
    01li
  3. 02br
    02br
    00They hadn't known anything about China before they arrived.02br
    02li
    4. 02ol
00I suppose only the third sentence sounds good to me. I don't suppose sentence one and two are grammatically correct because they should be referred to current time. So, I would like to change them to:02br
01ol
    02br
    01li
  1. 02br
    02br
    00I have been there before. 02br
    00I told you I had been there before.02br
    00I used to be there before.02br
    02br
    02li
    2. 02br
    01li
  2. 02br
    02br
    00He had lived in Hong Kong for five years.02br
    00He mentioned that he had lived in Hong Kong for five years.02br
    00He used to live in Hong Kong for five years.02br
    02li
    3. 02ol
00Please advise me on the sentences.02br
02br
00LCChang0-
  

Top answer

02br 02br 00In 1997, I was in Hong Kong witnessing the handover after British had ruled Hong Kong for 150 years. 02br 02br 00Similarly, 02br 02br 00Mr. 0-

— New2grammar

  • 02br 02br 00In 1997, I was in Hong Kong witnessing the handover after British had ruled Hong Kong for 150 years.
  • 02br 02br 00Similarly, 02br 02br 00Mr.
  • 0-
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4 Answers
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0The time reference that enables the use of the past perfect tense does not need to exist in the same sentence.02br
02br
00In 1997, I was in Hong Kong witnessing the handover after British had ruled Hong Kong for 150 years. I had been there before.02br
02br
00Similarly, 02br
02br
00Mr. X left Hong Kong in June, 1999.He had lived there f
0
0
0 Hi Lcchang02br
00I can think of a context for most of your examples. I don't like No. 3, though. 01i00Hadn't known02i00 doesn't sound good to my ear even with 01i00before they arrived. 02i00I would say: 02br
01i00They 01b00didn't know02b00 anything about China before they arrived.02i02
0
0
0Hi Cool Breeze,02br
02br
00Is 'used to' always incompatible with a period? I agree that it sounds a little off in the poster's example but I don't know why.Any idea?02br
02br
00She used to be a stay-at-home mom for five years. 01i00Doesn't sound that great. I would rather say, she was a stay-at-home mom for five years.02i0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10New2grammar12cite10Is 'used to' always incompatible with a period? I agree that it sounds a little off in the poster's example but I don't know why.Any idea?12br
12blockquote
10I don't know of a grammatical rule for it. It just sounds bad to my ear, which is a nonnative's ear. Some Britons or Americans
0

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