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Imran Pasha Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Verb tense example
One day a princess went into the forest to play. She threw her golden ball into the air and almost caught it. It fell into the pond. She started to cry. A frog hopped onto a lilypad and asked her what was wrong. The princess told him that she had dropped her ball. He offered to get it for her.
In the above example, the clause -'she had dropped her ball ' is in past perfect while the rest of the clauses are in simple past. Whats the reason behind this?
The above clause could also be told in simple past.but that didn't happen why?
In the above example, the clause -'she had dropped her ball ' is in past perfect while the rest of the clauses are in simple past. Whats the reason behind this?
The above clause could also be told in simple past.but that didn't happen why?
Top answer
Imran Pasha In the above example, the clause -'she had dropped her ball ' is in past perfect while the rest of the clauses are in simple past. Whats the reason behind this? This is an example "reported speech".
- Imran Pasha In the above example, the clause -'she had dropped her ball ' is in past perfect while the rest of the clauses are in simple past.
- Whats the reason behind this?
- This is an example "reported speech".
- We usually (not always) shift the verb back one tense in reported speech.
- htm
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1 Answers
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Imran PashaIn the above example, the clause -'she had dropped her ball ' is in past perfect while the rest of the clauses are in simple past. Whats the reason behind this?This is an example "reported speech".
We usually (not always) shift the verb back one tense in reported speech.
Read about backshifting tenses here:
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