tense choice

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Diamondrg

#205840 Mon, 13 Mar 06 07:19 PM

By November 1914 the government ---- to acknowledge that its policy ----.

A) is forced / has failed
B) had been forced / failed
C) was forced / has failed
D) would have been forced / failed
E) was forced / had failed

Diamondrg

Joined on Fri, Dec 2 2005

Turkey

Contributing Member (1,039)

Tenses

paco2004

#205856 Mon, 13 Mar 06 08:12 PM

My choice is E if no other context is given. But if some unreal hypothetical context is given, D can be an answer.

paco

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English.

Tenses

Pastsimple

#205865 Mon, 13 Mar 06 08:58 PM

Paco2004 wrote:

My choice is E if no other context is given. But if some unreal hypothetical context is given, D can be an answer.

paco

I completely agree with E but I think that D isn't possible in any context, however:

In my opinion, if it was a narrative in "historic present", A) would be correct as well.

(Example: "I come home and see my daughter eating a bat." when speaking about a past event to make it more "vivid")

Pastsimple

Joined on Thu, Feb 16 2006

Czech Republic, Europe

Full Member (303)

If you are a native speaker and find any grammar or stylistic mistakes in my posts, don't hesitate to tell me! I will really appreciate that.

Tenses

Clive

#205874 Mon, 13 Mar 06 09:20 PM

Hi,

By November 1914 the government ---- to acknowledge that its policy ----.

A) is forced / has failed
E) was forced / had failed

I'd say E is the answer expected. However, if the narrative that includes this sentence is being told in the form of a 'story', then A would be acceptable. But E would be much, much more common. I think these test questions always want the 'most common, most likely' answer.

I'd prefer D to say 'had failed' rather than failed.

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (21,081)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

Tenses

yulysess

#205879 Mon, 13 Mar 06 09:35 PM

Paco2004 wrote:

My choice is E if no other context is given. But if some unreal hypothetical context is given, D can be an answer.

paco

Ok paco; what do you think about "by+ time noun" with simple past? Why not "B" Aren't all events in past in the past? Thanks

yulysess

Joined on Fri, Jun 3 2005

Full Member (167)

Practise what you preach

Nouns, Simple past, Tenses

paco2004

#205881 Mon, 13 Mar 06 09:39 PM

If the sultan had been more powerful and pro-British, the government would have been forced by Nov, 1914 to acknowledge that its policy failed.

paco

paco2004

Tenses

paco2004

#205886 Mon, 13 Mar 06 09:49 PM

Yulysess wrote:
Ok paco; what do you think about "by+ time noun" with simple past? Why not "B" Aren't all events in past in the past? Thanks

"By ..." is more compatible with single conclusive events than with continuous events. This point differentiates "by ..." from "until ...".

paco

paco2004

Nouns, Simple past, Tenses

MrPedantic

#205915 Mon, 13 Mar 06 11:34 PM

Paco2004 wrote:
If the sultan had been more powerful and pro-British, the government would have been forced by Nov, 1914 to acknowledge that its policy failed.

I think I would still use "had failed" here; but a stative verb in the simple past would be fine:

1. If the sultan had been more powerful and pro-British, the government would have been forced by Nov. 1914 to acknowledge that its policy stank.

2. If the sultan had been more powerful and pro-British, the government would have been forced by Nov. 1914 to acknowledge that its policy showed no sign of convincing the nomadic tribesmen that a peaceful agricultural existence was the best option.

MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004

Veteran Member (12,047)