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Aya-san Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

The door was shut

" The door was shut when I passed by."

Does this mean

1. Someone shut the door as I passed by

or

2. The door had been shut before I passed by ?
  

Top answer

" Does this mean 1. Someone shut the door as I passed by or 2. The door had been shut before I passed by ?

— Philip

  • " Does this mean 1.
  • Someone shut the door as I passed by or 2.
  • The door had been shut before I passed by ?
  • Either is possible, but because of the lack of detail, the 2nd sentence is more likely.
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6 Answers
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Aya-san" The door was shut when I passed by."

Does this mean

1. Someone shut the door as I passed by

or

2. The door had been shut before I passed by ?
Either is possible, but because of the lack of detail, the 2nd sentence is more likely.
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I quite agree with Philip.We should be provided with more pieces of information to choose #1, though they are both plausible.

[Y]
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the second one seems closer to the correct answerEmotion: smile
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Aya-san" The door was shut when I passed by."

Does this mean

1. Someone shut the door as I passed by

or

2. The door had been shut before I passed by ?

I'd use "as I passed by" to express the meaning in "1.".
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Aya-san" The door was shut when I passed by."

Does this mean

1. Someone shut the door as I passed by

or

2. The door had been shut before I passed by ?

Hello Aya

I'd agree that it could mean either.

In terms of probability, all we can say is that we more often see a shut door than a door being sh
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Thank you all very much for the explanations!

Hi MrP

Now I can clearly understand why the answer should be#2.Thank you!
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