0
Chulhee Park Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Question about tense
While reading a book and something else, I encountered sentences like followings.
* Long before she had gone to bed, she sat, dwelling on the day's events in her mind.
* Caleb and Papa and I wrote letters to Sarah, and before the ice and snow had melted from the fields, we all received answers.
Are those grammatically correct?
Before + past perfect, simple past.
Is this structure possible?(I learned that past perfect tense is used to express the previous event that occurred before another past event.)
Thank you for your kind answering.
* Long before she had gone to bed, she sat, dwelling on the day's events in her mind.
* Caleb and Papa and I wrote letters to Sarah, and before the ice and snow had melted from the fields, we all received answers.
Are those grammatically correct?
Before + past perfect, simple past.
Is this structure possible?(I learned that past perfect tense is used to express the previous event that occurred before another past event.)
Thank you for your kind answering.
Top answer
Hi Chulhee. Yes, both those sentences are grammatically correct. ) I'll leave your second question to someone else - I'm a native English speaker but I don't understand these formal grammatical terms!
- Hi Chulhee.
- Yes, both those sentences are grammatically correct.
- ) I'll leave your second question to someone else - I'm a native English speaker but I don't understand these formal grammatical terms!
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
2 Answers
0
Hi Chulhee.
Yes, both those sentences are grammatically correct.
Yes, both those sentences are grammatically correct.
Chulhee ParkBefore + past perfect, simple past.Is this structure possible?(I learned that past perfect tense is used to express the previous event that occurred before another past event.)I'll leave your second question to someone else - I'm a native English speaker but I don't understa
00
The problem is in attributing Past Perfect mostly to sentences with two actions, where the former, as the books say, should be used in Past Perfect.
Meanwhile the real meaning of Past Perfect is in showing unambiguously perfect (completed) actions. That's why you will find a lot of examples of Past Perfect used outside the contexts with two consecutive actions.
Meanwhile the real meaning of Past Perfect is in showing unambiguously perfect (completed) actions. That's why you will find a lot of examples of Past Perfect used outside the contexts with two consecutive actions.
0
Related Questions