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Janissary Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

was to come / did come / came

gertrude was to come with us.

why the writer uses it in this way(it is in the book which i am reading now) . what is the difference "

gertrude was to come with us.

"

"gerturude came with us"
  

Top answer

Gertrude came with us means that it has already happened. Gertrude went somewhere with them. Gertrude 'was to' come with us means that it has been arranged that Gertrude would go somewhere with them in the future.

  • Gertrude came with us means that it has already happened.
  • Gertrude went somewhere with them.
  • Gertrude 'was to' come with us means that it has been arranged that Gertrude would go somewhere with them in the future.
  • The emphasis though, is on the fact that they are taking Gertrude, and it suggests they are making arrangements/looking after her, rather than Gertrude just happening to be in their party.
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6 Answers
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Gertrude came with us means that it has already happened. Gertrude went somewhere with them.

Gertrude 'was to' come with us means that it has been arranged that Gertrude would go somewhere with them in the future. The emphasis though, is on the fact that they are taking Gertrude, and it suggests they are making arrangements/looking after her, rather than Gertrude just happening to be in t
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does it mean she didnt come.i mean is it precise. if it is so can we use she was going to come with us
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If Gertrude was to come, it doesn't mean she came and it doesn't mean she didn't come. It means only that it had been arranged previously that she would come. We don't know what happened next until we read the rest of the story. Maybe she was to come, but she got sick at the last minute and did not come. Maybe she was to come, so everybody waited longer until she finally came, precisely
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hmm. so this is not the same thing as was/were going to do" ok understand thnx Emotion: smile
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That's right. It is similar, but not exactly the same as "was/were going to".

Often you can add the word "expected", "supposed", or "scheduled" like this:

Gertrude was to come.
= Gertrude was expected to come.
= Gertrude was supposed to come.
= Gertrude was scheduled to come.

(where the = indicates approximate equality, not exact equ
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0thnx for all explanation , firstly.02br
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00as far as what i have understood from you , it means it is expected to do so.02br
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00but today i get confused with sth again that likes this.this is the sentence02br
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00"if we are to look behind the mere facts of behaviour for an explanation of this phonemenon."02br
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