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Tamguatlay Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Which verb in bold should I use?
The policeman asked the lady, "Where did you lose your bag?"
I have reported the sentence as follows:
The lady told the policemen that she lost had / lost her bag in the Prime Supermarket.
Which verb in bold should I use? I feel that it should be "lost" because of the verb "lose" in the original sentence.
Thanks.
I have reported the sentence as follows:
The lady told the policemen that she lost had / lost her bag in the Prime Supermarket.
Which verb in bold should I use? I feel that it should be "lost" because of the verb "lose" in the original sentence.
Thanks.
Top answer
had lost and lost are both OK, but simply 'lost' is more common as the sequence of events is clear with just Simple Past.
- had lost and lost are both OK, but simply 'lost' is more common as the sequence of events is clear with just Simple Past.
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3 Answers
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had lost and lost are both OK, but simply 'lost' is more common as the sequence of events is clear with just Simple Past.
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Either choice is fine.
To me, it depends upon whether the bag was lost just recently in relation to the time of her reporting it to the policeman, or if it occurred much earlier. In the latter case, I would use "had lost" only to emphasize that the losing of the bag occurred earlier in the past than the also past tense action of her telling the policeman.
To me, it depends upon whether the bag was lost just recently in relation to the time of her reporting it to the policeman, or if it occurred much earlier. In the latter case, I would use "had lost" only to emphasize that the losing of the bag occurred earlier in the past than the also past tense action of her telling the policeman.
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tamguatlayThe policeman asked the lady, "Where did you lose your bag?"Reported the sentence? No. That's not a report of the sentence above. A report is
I have reported the sentence as follows:
The lady told the policemen that she lost had / lost her bag in the Prime Supermarket.
The policeman asked the lady where she (had)
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