I have a question, please!

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Anonymous  #440785  Sat, 10 Nov 07 02:36 AM

Hello!

Please, What form below is  the correct and why ?

- John has lived with the Thompsons family for ten years;

- John has lived with the Thompson's family for ten years;

- John has lived with the Thompsons' family for ten years;   

And why in the sentence below we don't use the simple future  in the underlined clause, once we have if + simple present tense in the first clause (conditional clause)?

- If Juliet appears, tell her that her order arrived

Thanks in advance,

Ann Morgan

  
Clive  #440790  Sat, 10 Nov 07 02:54 AM

Hi,

What form below is  the correct and why ?

- John has lived with the Thompsons family for ten years;

- John has lived with the Thompson's family for ten years;

- John has lived with the Thompsons' family for ten years;   

The normal thing to say is simply John has lived with the Thompson family for ten years.

Or you could say John has lived with the Thompsons for ten years;

And why in the sentence below we don't use the simple future  in the underlined clause, once we have if + simple present tense in the first clause (conditional clause)?

- If Juliet appears, tell her that her order arrivedThe order 'tell her' is being given to the listener now, in the present. The arrival of the order was in the past. You might see this more clearly if you consider these examples. 

 - If Juliet calls you,  tell her that Tom died yesterday.

- If Juliet appears, tell her that I will visit her tomorrow.

Best wishes, Clive

  
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Yankee  #440791  Sat, 10 Nov 07 02:57 AM
I would say one of these:
- John has lived with the Thompsons for ten years.
- John has lived with the Thompson family for ten years.

"the Thompsons" = the people in the Thompson family ("Thompsons" = plural proper noun)
"the Thompson family" ==> Thompson acts as an adjective and modifies the noun family

------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Juliet appears, tell her (something).

Tell is a command to do something in the future.



EDIT:
Clive, your keyboard speed never ceases to amaze me. Smile [:)]
  
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Anonymous  #440800  Sat, 10 Nov 07 03:31 AM

Thank you very much, Clive.

Best wishes,

Ann Morgan

  
Anonymous  #440802  Sat, 10 Nov 07 03:31 AM

Thanks for helping me, Yankee.

Best wishes,

Ann Morgan 

  
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