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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

typical past perfect usage?

Hi,

Is this the example of a typical past perfect usage? If it is so, is my explanation plausible?

When my husband spoke to a group of men yesterday, he learned John had been a homosexual.

Here, the person who wrote this sentence is talking about what has expired yesterday, that is her husband talked to a group of men yesterday, and in that talk, he found out that (up until that day, that is 'yesterday'), John had been a homosexual and for that matter, just looking at this simple sentence alone without the whole context, John could still be a homosexual or stopped being homosexual for that matter, but the importance of this fact is a non-issue or down played . Do you agree?
  

Top answer

John had been a homosexual - this means he was a homosexual in the past but is not cureently a homosexual. John was a homosexual - this means he is currently a homosexual.

  • John had been a homosexual - this means he was a homosexual in the past but is not cureently a homosexual.
  • John was a homosexual - this means he is currently a homosexual.
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1 Answers
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John had been a homosexual - this means he was a homosexual in the past but is not cureently a homosexual.

John was a homosexual - this means he is currently a homosexual.

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