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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Why past perfect and not past tense in this sentence?
Why is the past perfect used here and not the past tense?
"The sun was shining when I got up this morning, but by 10 o'clock it had disappeared entirely behind the clouds."
"The sun was shining when I got up this morning, but by 10 o'clock it had disappeared entirely behind the clouds."
Top answer
Past perfect tense is used for an action that started and completed in the past. It requires a reference for the time the action was finished. Your sentence provides such an explicit reference: 10 o'clock this morning.
- Past perfect tense is used for an action that started and completed in the past.
- It requires a reference for the time the action was finished.
- Your sentence provides such an explicit reference: 10 o'clock this morning.
- Use simple past when the action is completed and there is no specific time reference: The sun was shining when I got up this morning, but some time later it disappeared entirely behind the clouds.
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1 Answers
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Past perfect tense is used for an action that started and completed in the past. It requires a reference for the time the action was finished.
Your sentence provides such an explicit reference: 10 o'clock this morning.
Use simple past when the action is completed and there is no specific time reference:
The sun was shining when I got up this morning, but some time
Your sentence provides such an explicit reference: 10 o'clock this morning.
Use simple past when the action is completed and there is no specific time reference:
The sun was shining when I got up this morning, but some time
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