Timeline
1.Please explain the use of past perfect? Does it imply that all that is written before the sentence "Within days of becoming president, Trump’s flip-flops began" happened earlier?
"Never in the annals of the presidency have there been so many flip-flops so quickly, and with so little explanation. Trump had called NAFTA “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, but certainly ever signed in this country.” He promised to label China — “the greatest abuser in the history of this country” — a currency manipulator on, yes, “Day One.” He described NATO as “obsolete,” suggested that he might eliminate the Export-Import Bank and implied that he might support Syria’s Bashar al-Assad."
Within days of becoming president, Trump’s flip-flops began.
2. Would the meaning be the same if we used past perfect everywhere in the first paragraph . Thaks a lot!
Never in the annals of the presidency have there been so many flip-flops so quickly, and with so little explanation. Trump had called NAFTA “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, but certainly ever signed in this country.” He had promised to label China — “the greatest abuser in the history of this country” — a currency manipulator on, yes, “Day One.” He had described NATO as “obsolete,” suggested that he might eliminate the Export-Import Bank and implied that he might support Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
Within days of becoming president, Trump’s flip-flops began.
Top answer
1. Because of the distance between them, "had called" may not be specifically linked in the mind to "began". It just means that he said those things about NAFTA before he later "flip-flopped".
- 1.
- Because of the distance between them, "had called" may not be specifically linked in the mind to "began".
- It just means that he said those things about NAFTA before he later "flip-flopped".
- 2.
- More or less, yes.
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1. Because of the distance between them, "had called" may not be specifically linked in the mind to "began". It just means that he said those things about NAFTA before he later "flip-flopped".
2. More or less, yes.
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