tinanam0102  +  964306 Sat, 07 Nov 09 02:04 PM Hi teachers,   As the global recession took hold, credit dried up and governments cut subsidies, most notably in Spain where the world's largest subsidy program blew up after spurring nearly 10 times the growth it had intended.  When Spain capped it last year,..     1.  Does "it" refer to "growth"?   2.  Would you tell me why "it had intended" is needed and not "it intended"?  Thank you.   Regards, TN         tinanam0102 Joined on Wed, May 6 2009 Full Member 410 Regards

	Yankee  +  964374 Sat, 07 Nov 09 03:41 PM Hi Tinanam0102 You asked about the word "it", but you also underlined "it" twice, and "it" refers to different things in each case. Here is my opinion: "it had intended" it = the (Spanish) government The past perfect was used because the intention referred to is connected to the establishment of subsidies, and that preceded the actual growth as well as the subsequent cutting/capping of subsidies. (The Spanish government had new/different intentions when it cut the subsidies.) "it" (the second one) It would have been easier to say what "it" refers to if you had included the rest of the sentence, but I guess that "it" probably refers to subsidies or the growth created by subsidy program. Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,491 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain Past Perfect, Past Tenses, Sentences