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JungKim Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

tense question

Wouldn't it be nice to go out saying you'd faced all your fears?

For more context, please click on this https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=x9hnwN3OpTEC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=%22Wouldn%E2%80%99t+it+be+nice+to+go+out+saying%22&source=bl&ots=qWLtjSAhQS&sig=dfj3vvl0xRdqaJg6X6Mi3yRPBeQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aLoHVfTkGo368QX_2oFg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Wouldn%E2%80%99t%20it%20be%20nice%20to%20go%20out%20saying%22&f=false.

My question is why it's the past perfect "you had faced"?

Is it not possible to use the present perfect "you have faced" instead?
  

Top answer

JungKim My question is why it's the past perfect "you had faced"? Presumably the writer thinks the fears have passed. JungKim Is it not possible to use the present perfect "you have faced" instead?

— Mister Micawber

  • JungKim My question is why it's the past perfect "you had faced"?
  • Presumably the writer thinks the fears have passed.
  • JungKim Is it not possible to use the present perfect "you have faced" instead?
  • Yes, if more fears are feared.
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10 Answers
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JungKimMy question is why it's the past perfect "you had faced"?
Presumably the writer thinks the fears have passed.
JungKimIs it not possible to use the present perfect "you have faced" instead?
Yes, if more fears are feared.
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Sorry, but you've lost me.
Let me get this straight.
So are you saying that if the fears have passed the past perfect form is in order, and that if more fears are to come the present perfect form is okay??
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If so, I still don't get it.
Doesn't a perfect form, be it the present perfect or the past perfect, denote that the action/event mentioned is complete at the reference time?
I mean, even in your own response, you used the present perfect form, not the past perfect form, saying, "Presumably the writer thinks the fears have passed."
Enlighten me, please.
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Present perfect does not proscribe the possible repetition of an event in the future:

I have gone to church twice this month.
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Mister MicawberPresent perfect does not proscribe the possible repetition of an event in the future:I have gone to church twice this month.
The event in your example is my going to church twice, isn't it?

Then, my going to church twice is complete at the time of speaking.
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JungKimThe event in your example is my going to church twice, isn't it?Then, my going to church twice is complete at the time of speaking.
No, that is not right at all. You are unaware of one of the main functions of present perfect. 'Going to church' is a discrete event that may occur again in the future, and hence the series cannot be considered complete.
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Actually, it doesn't really matter whether the event includes 'twice' or not.
I have gone to church twice this month.
The reason for my going to church "may occur again in the future" is not because the present perfect form is used but because the perfect form only talks about events before the reference time, which is the present time in the case of the present perfect and i
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JungKimWhat am I missing?
I'll let someone else try to get through to you.
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Mister MicawberPresumably the writer thinks the fears have passed.
I can't reach the book by the link, but I wonder what the reason is for using 'had faced'; in that sentence, 'would' indicates a hypothetical situation, then throughout the entire sentence even when we are still talking about the present, we can still use the simple past tense and the past perf
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