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Norwolf Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

tense

Hi,teachers.
Here comes a question:
We say "It was exactly five years since her father had died. "
My question is: Can we say "It was exactly five years since her father died. " or "It had exactly been five years since her father had died. ", meaning the same thing?
Thank you very much.
  

Top answer

norwolf We say "It was exactly five years since her father had died. " I don't. " norwolf My question is: Can we say "It was exactly five years since her father died.

— Mister Micawber

  • norwolf We say "It was exactly five years since her father had died.
  • " I don't.
  • " norwolf My question is: Can we say "It was exactly five years since her father died.
  • " or "It had exactly been five years since her father had died.
  • ", meaning the same thing?
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5 Answers
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norwolfWe say "It was exactly five years since her father had died. "
I don't. I say "It has been exactly 5 years since her father died."
norwolfMy question is: Can we say "It was exactly five years since her father died. " or "It had exactly been five years since her father had died. ", meaning the same thing?
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"It was exactly five years since her father had died. "——The orginal is taken from LDOCE 5, a famous dictionary.
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norwolf"It was exactly five years since her father had died.
That is good only in further context—a past narrative.
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Mister Micawber norwolf"It was exactly five years since her father had died.That is good only in further context—a past narrative.
Yes,MM, thank you very much. Maybe I should have made it clearer: In a past narrative, do the three mean the same thing?
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norwolfdo the three mean the same thing?
It was exactly five years since her father died. — Yes; the past prefect isn't really needed there, since logic tells us that the death was earlier.

It had been exactly been five years since her father had died.— This is oveloaded with past perfects; again, the second one is uncalled for.
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