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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Present perfect vs past perfect
Hi,
"Before midnight rumours were spreading around the Occupy camp suggesting that the site that has been their home for months was about to be cleared." [From the BBC website.]
My question is: why does the present perfect tense, instead of the past perfect, is used in the sentence when the context is clearly anchored at the past ("were spreading", "was about to be")?
Thank you.
"Before midnight rumours were spreading around the Occupy camp suggesting that the site that has been their home for months was about to be cleared." [From the BBC website.]
My question is: why does the present perfect tense, instead of the past perfect, is used in the sentence when the context is clearly anchored at the past ("were spreading", "was about to be")?
Thank you.
Top answer
A minor grammar glitch from the BBC. 'About to be' is generally a future form: that may have waylaid the editor.
- A minor grammar glitch from the BBC.
- 'About to be' is generally a future form: that may have waylaid the editor.
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2 Answers
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A minor grammar glitch from the BBC. 'About to be' is generally a future form: that may have waylaid the editor.
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