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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

why past perfect here?

Can someone tell my why the past perfect tense is used in the following sentence?

Nelson Mandela is a brave man who'd spent years in prison for his convictions.

thanks
  

Top answer

Possibly, because; "who'd", in this case, is "who had". Nelson Mandela is a brave man who had spent years in prison for his convictions.

  • Possibly, because; "who'd", in this case, is "who had".
  • Nelson Mandela is a brave man who had spent years in prison for his convictions.
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4 Answers
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Possibly, because; "who'd", in this case, is "who had".

Nelson Mandela is a brave man who had spent years in prison for his convictions.
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The past perfect is used incorrectly in your sentence. The present perfect would be correct.

CB
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I agree with CB. The simple past tense could also be used.
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Nelson Mandela is a brave man who'd spent years in prison for his convictions.


We tend to pay little attention to the proper use of past perfect tense in everyday conversation and get away with simple past without much critique. We all knew Mandela had spent a major part of his life in confinement, 27 years to be exact, only to be released in 1990. This i

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