0
Stenka25 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Tense with 'before long'
In the below 2 sentences, one has 'past perfect' after 'before long,' and the other has just 'past'.
Can we use either 'past' or 'past perfect' in any of this kind of sentence?
If it is, can you tell me why?
If not, can you also tell me why? - and give me example sentences if you can.
? The Pack threw "Vans" onto their MySpace page, and before long more than 1.6 million people had downloaded it.
? The Hutzler-Salzman effort was successful, and before long more than a million Hutzler soap dishes were sold.
Can we use either 'past' or 'past perfect' in any of this kind of sentence?
If it is, can you tell me why?
If not, can you also tell me why? - and give me example sentences if you can.
? The Pack threw "Vans" onto their MySpace page, and before long more than 1.6 million people had downloaded it.
? The Hutzler-Salzman effort was successful, and before long more than a million Hutzler soap dishes were sold.
Top answer
Hi, IMO, past perfect is out of place here. You should use past perfect when saying about some event that had already been completed by some time point in the past. " -- Victor
- Hi, IMO, past perfect is out of place here.
- You should use past perfect when saying about some event that had already been completed by some time point in the past.
- " -- Victor
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
4 Answers
0
Hi,
IMO, past perfect is out of place here. You should use past perfect
when saying about some event that had already been completed by
some time point in the past. For instance,
"Yesterday, when my workday came to the end, all my colleagues had already left work."
If you simply describe two sequential events that happened in the
past not accentuating their
IMO, past perfect is out of place here. You should use past perfect
when saying about some event that had already been completed by
some time point in the past. For instance,
"Yesterday, when my workday came to the end, all my colleagues had already left work."
If you simply describe two sequential events that happened in the
past not accentuating their
00
Stenka25Can we use either 'past' or 'past perfect' in any of this kind of sentence?Yes. You wouldn't normally use present or present perfect, but other than that, you can use any tense you want. Use whatever tense expresses the time relationship you want to communicate.
The squirrels in our neighborhood have become very tame; before long th
00
victor_amelkinIMO, past perfect is out of place here. You should use past perfectNot exactly. You have to look at this one carefully, picking apart the meaning of before long.
when saying about some event that had already been completed by
some time point in the past.
before long means 'before a lot of time passed', so -- I kn
00
Related Questions