In Past perfect^x, Constructions^x

Thank you very much for your explanation Clive.

Hi, It had been a year since James left New York. I suppose it's acceptable in colloquial English, but isn't it grammatically wrong? No, it's fine. Wouldn't James have to leave New York first before a year can pass? He did leave NY first, and then a year passed. This sentence makes that clear...

Hi everyone, Recently I've been thinking about the following past perfect construction: It had been a year since James left New York. I suppose it's acceptable in colloquial English, but isn't it grammatically wrong? Wouldn't James have to leave New York first before a year can...

Hello Philip, thank you for your reply. ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ (e) ..., one of the cruel stepsisters had cut her toes off so the slipper could fit her foot. ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ 〖Philip〗As a causative, wouldn't it have to be 'had her toes cut off' or 'had...

Hmm...So 'since+S+past' has to be accompanied with either past perfect or present perfect. But what about a 'for+a certain amont of period' construction? If I 'm not mistaken, both 'I lived in the US for 5 years' and 'I have lived/been living in the US for 5 years' are fine, right? Why is...

meaning that my father lived in that house before the marriage and then he moved to Chicago Right. I agree. But if there was no such 'before-ness' in a sentence, do you think the past perfect would be still required when the sentence had '...since S+past' construction? Example: I am...

1. This is the 'emphatic do', Jack. And I don't believe in mixed conditionals myself. 2. This is the grammatically correct construction. What will you do if someone comes / does come up? What would you do if someone came / did come up? What would you have done if someone had come up? I rest...

I don't oppose to anita's answer, though I'd say "X has belonged to Y since 2002" is a present perfect sentence rather than a past perfect one. However, I am not sure about whether we can say "X belongs to Y since 2002" is completely wrong. It is true 'since' is usually used in perfect and past...

Very true, Aeolus29. There are only two tense inflections in English - the "s" for the present (only for third person singular), and the "ed" for the past. In this sense there are only two tenses. All the other verbal machinery of English depends on combining auxiliaries and/or modals with the...

I think this is fine, let us consider three pieces of information regarding the document: 1) the author 2) the reviewer 3) the source computer With respect to 1), the author of of the document is an existential fact. So being an author is not an action you can finish doing. Once you are the...