By Tenses, Negatives

Just one more thing before I go: conditionals are not considered real past tenses, so Milky's assertion, according to which must can not be in past negative, has not legs. Must not have contained is a past participle verb phrase, and in the context it means the words: participle, gerund......

hi im problematicme .. tats my alias hehe ~ My real name is Zara and i'm from Singapore ~ i have a problem with my conversational english because im used to speak singlish, or in another term local english .... kinda polluted unpure english ... hmmm ... im still having some problems with my...

Generally, you are correct, but time isn't everything in such constructions. The degree of doubt might determine which of the two tenses, the past perfect (for most doubt), or the past (for less) should be used, irrelevant of the temporal element involved. Should you have the opportunity,...

Let's assume that a quote precedes this so that we have a complete sentence. "***," Susan said, weary before the evening had even begun. Instances of the past perfect in a before-clause abound, in spite of the fact that they contradict the so-called rule that the past perfect always...

Hi Ben9108, Two things I've noticed: overuse of passive tense and lack of action verbs. Why don't you try to fix this paragraph and I'll proofread the other one for you. Cheers. This report found that some advantage (sing./pl. agreement) and disadvantage of harbour reclamation have been...

Hola Eladio, Please, help me on this. I understand the constructs: a) I saw him walk along the street. (= He walked along and I saw him) b) I saw him walking along the street. (= He was walking along and I saw him) My doubts begin with other sentences, mainly negatives and questions in this...

Relax! One thing learners need to understand. Not everyone on this forum was trained by the same manual. That said, the answers and interpretation may vary slightly among the volunteers. I said “postpone” contains a negative connotation which is my perception. So are verbs like “delay” ,...

(EX) Nobody is yet arrived," said the master of the post-house in answer to his inquiries(EX) Lord Cornwallis's courier, Mr. Broderick, is not yet arrived; so you are a little precipitate in thinking (EX) "Monsieur Charles, whom I expect; is he arrived from England?" "Monseigneur, not yet." (EX)...

Kili, Yes, indeed. It's nearly exactly the same question, and Clive's answer there is a good one. (That means I agree with it. ) I do think that a non-sequitur is involved, and I do see the "but" as anomalous. Part of the discomfort with the "could" version (as opposed to the...

Hi again, Scenario: At 1pm, I bought a sweater. At 2pm, I saw my friend, Tom. 1. I saw Tom. I bought a sweater. If you want to use 'tense' to make it clear that you bought the sweater first, say 'I had bought a sweater'. 2. After I had bought a sweater, I saw Tom. Yes. But the word 'after' is...