Sentence dilemma

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Anonymous

#564277 Tue, 09 Sep 08 11:09 PM

1. Why does it have to be a past tense? Which event occurred first?

The conference has been involved in controversy for over a year before the first president arrived.

2. Can the underlined part (looks to me like a prepositional phrase) act as a noun or a complement (I don't which it is). Should it be 'ways' and not 'way' in the phrase 'The number one way'?

The number one way I like to spend my time is with my family and work.

Anonymous

Tenses, Nouns, Numbers, Past Tenses

yizhivika

#564299 Wed, 10 Sep 08 12:21 AM

Hi,

To be honest, I think both of the sentences are sloppily written, particularly the first of them.

The conference has been involved in controversy for over a year before the first president arrived.

As a native English-speaker, I have to search around for a meaning for it. Perhaps it means this:

The conference has been involved in controversy for over a year, ever since ~~before~~ the ~~first~~ president first arrived.

Then again, perhaps it means something else. Who knows?

The number one way I like to spend my time is with my family and work.

You could say "My favourite ways of spending my time are with my family and at work [or 'working' instead of 'at work']."

..then you wouldn't have to agonise over whether 'way' should be singular or plural!

If you do want to use 'number one way(s)', then I guess you could make it plural, if the two activities are in joint first place... (;)) Wink

yizhivika

Joined on Fri, Jul 25 2008

London, England

Full Member (169)

Plurals, Numbers

Philip

#564300 Wed, 10 Sep 08 12:28 AM

The conference had been involved in controversy for over a year before the first president arrived. [Past perfect action started before simple past action occured.]

"The number one way" should be followed by only one "way": spend time and work = two "ways".

Philip

Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005

USA Pacific Northwest (Seattle)

Veteran Member (6,333)

At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen

Numbers, Past Perfect, Simple Past