Hi Clive, Thanks for taking the time on my query. I guess what I had in mind when I used "had taken computer science for 2 semesters.." rather than the simple "took" was the deliberate intent to emphasize the duration I had

Hi, However, words like 'before' and 'after' usually make the sequence of events very clear. In such cases, simple past is commonly used rather than past perfect. eg She turned on the stove before she cooked dinner.

Hi No, I'm afraid it's not correct. The problem is your use of the verb 'go'. You tried to use the negative form of the simple past tense and wrongly assumed it was 'did not went'. This is a tricky aspect of

Hi, No. There are two errors. 1. Say 'did not go', not 'did not went'. You need to review how to make simple past tense. 2. An English sentence must start with a capital letter. Clive

Hi Clive, Thank you for your help. I'll remeber to use Simple Past. I apologize for the typos I made in #1. For #2. I copied it down from a newsletter. Regards, Tinanam

Hi, In both of your examples, I see no reason to use Past Perfect. I'd just use Simple Past. If you have typed them correctly, other parts of the wording suggest to me that these sentences were not written by native speakers.

If it's simple past, you don't need to use "have" in front of the simple past tense. "I shouldn't ate it." "I shouldn't have eaten it." is correct.

I shouldn't have ate it. Or I shouldn't have eaten it. What's the difference? The second sentence is present perfect so is the first sentence simple past tense?

No. To build the simple past tense of a verb in a negative sentence, you use did + not + base form of the verb So, your sentence is correct this way: - I did not want him to come.

I would like someone to confirm my thoughts on the following sentence, to see if I am on the right track or am just in fantasy lala land, going off on a tangent: "Because Malcolm had never become a cutthroat CEO, he had few enemies." I