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Pructus Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Until the matter had been settled
Hi,
Below is a paragraph from COCA searching....
agree to let the dog go, would you be willing? " " Sure, " said the man, shooting a glance at Henry. " I almost know anyone would let us keep Watch, Grandfather, " said Henry earnestly, " if they knew how much he had done for us. " " I'm sure of it, my boy, " returned Mr. Alden kindly. The fact that Henry had been the first to make headway with the dog fancier had not escaped him. It was clear that Jess would not be able to sleep until the matter had been settled, and so the moment the man had gone, the children set out from their beautiful new home to the address of the lady who had bought Watch. // The big car purred along from Greenfield to Woodstock in no time. The whole family, including Watch himself, trooped up the veranda steps to interview the lady who held it in her power to break their hearts or to make them very happy. She was not terrible to look at. In fact, she
http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/x4.asp?t=2015050&ID=102728430
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In the above, the underlined part of past perfect...
In the "Jess would not be able to sleep until the matter had been settled"...
It's difficult to understand why "had been" is used there?
Shouldn't it be "until the matter was settled"?
Below is a paragraph from COCA searching....
agree to let the dog go, would you be willing? " " Sure, " said the man, shooting a glance at Henry. " I almost know anyone would let us keep Watch, Grandfather, " said Henry earnestly, " if they knew how much he had done for us. " " I'm sure of it, my boy, " returned Mr. Alden kindly. The fact that Henry had been the first to make headway with the dog fancier had not escaped him. It was clear that Jess would not be able to sleep until the matter had been settled, and so the moment the man had gone, the children set out from their beautiful new home to the address of the lady who had bought Watch. // The big car purred along from Greenfield to Woodstock in no time. The whole family, including Watch himself, trooped up the veranda steps to interview the lady who held it in her power to break their hearts or to make them very happy. She was not terrible to look at. In fact, she
http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/x4.asp?t=2015050&ID=102728430
***
In the above, the underlined part of past perfect...
In the "Jess would not be able to sleep until the matter had been settled"...
It's difficult to understand why "had been" is used there?
Shouldn't it be "until the matter was settled"?
Top answer
pructus Shouldn't it be "until the matter was settled"? No. '...
- pructus Shouldn't it be "until the matter was settled"?
- No.
- '...
- had been settled is fine', though '...
- was settled' is possible.
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4 Answers
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pructusShouldn't it be "until the matter was settled"?No. '... had been settled is fine', though '... was settled' is possible.
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Thanks fivejedjon!!
But, I have been thinking that past perfect is used to express that something happened before some thing happened. The situation is in the past. Let's say the time point is S, a certain time, for example May 20th, 1991.
And Jess would not be able to sleep starting from the S until until something was settled after the S, not before the S. So, in this logic, t
But, I have been thinking that past perfect is used to express that something happened before some thing happened. The situation is in the past. Let's say the time point is S, a certain time, for example May 20th, 1991.
And Jess would not be able to sleep starting from the S until until something was settled after the S, not before the S. So, in this logic, t
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20.40: The matter is settled.
20:54: Jess goes to sleep.
When the matter has been settled, Jess goes to sleep.
Jess does not/cannot go to sleep until the matter has been settled.
When the matter had been settled, Jess went to sleep.
Jess did not/could not go to sleep until the matter had been settled.
20:54: Jess goes to sleep.
When the matter has been settled, Jess goes to sleep.
Jess does not/cannot go to sleep until the matter has been settled.
When the matter had been settled, Jess went to sleep.
Jess did not/could not go to sleep until the matter had been settled.
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