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SeroMack Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
She asked me if you have/had finished?
I was looking through one of my grammar-test books and encountered such a sentence:
Celia has just phoned to ask if YOU HAVE FINISHED your part of the project yet.
Shouldn't it be HAD YOU FINISHED instead of the above? It is reported speech, isn't it?
Celia has just phoned to ask if YOU HAVE FINISHED your part of the project yet.
Shouldn't it be HAD YOU FINISHED instead of the above? It is reported speech, isn't it?
Top answer
Hi, Yes, 'had finished' is correct. But 'have finished' is also fine, if Celia's call was quite recent, and 'just called' indicates a recent call. eg She may have called 3 minutes ago, in which case the situation is still treated as a 'current' one.
- Hi, Yes, 'had finished' is correct.
- But 'have finished' is also fine, if Celia's call was quite recent, and 'just called' indicates a recent call.
- eg She may have called 3 minutes ago, in which case the situation is still treated as a 'current' one.
- In other words, the situation is unikely to have changed in 3 minutes.
- Best wishes, Clive
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1 Answers
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Hi,
Yes, 'had finished' is correct.
But 'have finished' is also fine, if Celia's call was quite recent, and 'just called' indicates a recent call.
eg She may have called 3 minutes ago, in which case the situation is still treated as a 'current' one.
In other words, the situation is unikely to have changed in 3 minutes.
Best wishes, Clive
Yes, 'had finished' is correct.
But 'have finished' is also fine, if Celia's call was quite recent, and 'just called' indicates a recent call.
eg She may have called 3 minutes ago, in which case the situation is still treated as a 'current' one.
In other words, the situation is unikely to have changed in 3 minutes.
Best wishes, Clive
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