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MarvinTheMartian Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

than ever before in all of my life

Hi,

I think the following sentence could use a little work:

"I'm so embarrassed - I've made more faux pas in the last two months than ever before in all of my life put together."

The first 2/3 of the sentence work, but I'm not so sure about the last third (i.e. "(...) than ever before in all of my life put together.") I don't think I've ever seen or heard this particular phrase before, yet, in the context, it seems to be the only one that fits... Do you have a better suggestion?
  

Top answer

It sounds too emphatic for me, I would just spare a half, whichever one... Just as a suggestion: a)than ever before put together b)than in all of my life (my whole life) put together. a) or b), up to you.

  • It sounds too emphatic for me, I would just spare a half, whichever one...
  • Just as a suggestion: a)than ever before put together b)than in all of my life (my whole life) put together.
  • a) or b), up to you.
  • Cheers
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8 Answers
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It sounds too emphatic for me, I would just spare a half, whichever one...

Just as a suggestion:

a)than ever before put together

b)than in all of my life (my whole life) put together.

a) or b), up to you.

Cheers
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As a native-speaker of English, I'd be more likely to say:

"I'm so embarrassed - I've made more faux pas in the last two months than in the rest of my life put together."

I think 'than ever before in all of my life put together' is unnatural, too wordy, and I don't think a native-speaker would ever say it.
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AnonymousI think 'than ever before in all of my life put together' is unnatural, too wordy, and I don't think a native-speaker would ever say it.
The irony is I am a native speaker. Perhaps if you were subjected to broken English day in and day out as I am, you would end up saying
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"I'm so embarrassed - I've made more faux pas in the last two months than I had ever made before (in my life)." (in my life) or (in my whole life) is not necessary but adds more drama.
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AlpheccaStarsI've made more faux pas in the last two months than I had ever made before (in my life).
Thanks. Grammatically speaking, would the sentence still work if I used the present perfect instead of the past perfect? (i.e. "I've made more faux pas in the last two months than I've ever made before in my life.")
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Hi guys,
A small comment about 'put together'.

This phrase suggests you are talking about two ( or more ) things.
eg . . . . more faux pas than I made in my high school days and my university days put together.
eg I make more money than Tom and Mary put together.

' . . . than in my whole life put together' sounds odd because your whole life is one thing. In o
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Technically, past perfect is correct, since the ending point of the time period is in the past. (actually 2 months ago).
Present perfect means that the ending point is present time. I think you want to exclude the past 2 months from that interval.
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Thanks, your explanation is logical.

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