ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: missing phrase please

Clive — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:33:01 GMT

Hi,

The sentence you originally asked us about seems to have almost no resemblance to the sentence you are now asking us about. It would have been simpler if you had just given us the example from your dictionary and then asked us to explain it.

If you describe someone or something as a fly in the ointment, you think they spoil a situation and prevent it being as successful as you had hoped.

I feel the past perfect 'you had hoped' is correctYes, it's fine but can't lay out the reason or reasoning involved. Can you help?

Here's the idea.

You hope the situation will be successful.

You find out that it won't, so you stop hoping that. In other words, your period of hoping is now in the past, before the event of finding out.

The Past Perfect indicates something (the hoping) is in the past, before some other thing in the past (the finding out).

As I suggested, next time please make life easy by asking your question in a more direct way.
Thank you, Clive

Re: missing phrase please

Clive — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:31:47 GMT

Hi,

Re: missing phrase please

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:03:18 GMT

Thank you all.

I found this a phrasal exmple of the phrased "a fly in the ointment" in the Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary. I wrote this in a piece of paper to ask you later but since I was very sleep, it is hard for me to attest to the accurate transcription of the example spelling by spelling, but here it is:

If you describe someone or something as a fly in the ointment, you think they spoil a situation and prevent it being as successful as you had hoped.

I feel the past perfect 'you had hoped' is correct but can't lay out the reason or reasoning involved. Can you help?

Re: missing phrase please

Clive — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:49:49 GMT

Hi,
Hi,
Would you fill in the blank with the missing phrase. I am keen on finding out what verb do you mean 'what tense'? can be used. I am not particulary concerned about the nature of the phrase.

Q: What does this English expression mean?
A: If you say that, you are saying that it (possible phrase) than you had done.

First, a few comments.
1. You have provided no real context.
2. The answerer does not appear to be really answering the question directly, so his words could go in many, many directions.
3. The phrase and tense 'than you had done' makes it hard to come up with anything sensible to say without dreaming up some rather contorted context.
4. The Past Perfect suggests the missing phrase probably uses Simple Past.

You could say A: If you say that, you are saying that it required more work than you had done.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: missing phrase please

Mister Micawber — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:42:15 GMT

.
Did more?
.

missing phrase please

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:25:08 GMT

Hi,
Would you fill in the blank with the missing phrase. I am keen on finding out what verb can be used. I am not particulary concerned about the nature of the phrase.

Q: What does this English expression mean?
A: If you say that, you are saying that it (possible phrase) than you had done.