Dear A.U.E. Friends, I'd like to ask your advice on a rather delicate point. I am a writer for a ... the case in the past perfect tense. My boss, however, has requested that I use the simple past tense throughout: You still seem wedded to the

Dear A.U.E. Friends, I'd like to ask your advice on a rather delicate point. I am a writer for a ... the case in the past perfect tense. My boss, however, has requested that I use the simple past tense throughout: You still seem wedded to the

Dear A.U.E. Friends, I'd like to ask your advice on a rather delicate point. I am a writer for a specialized legal news publication. Much of what I write are analyses of court opinions. In such articles, we refer to the statements of the court

Is it all right to ask someone who graduated from college long time ago, "Have you been to a prom?" ... use "Did you go to a prom?" instead? (assuming there is no such thing as a prom for adults) lemmings I'm presuming

It's also worth remembering Ghandhi's campaign in India, which was based on getting the Indian population to ditch foreign-made cotton goods and wear "homespun" goods. Irrelevant. "Homespun" is using a past participle

If that is difficult, maybe it is possible to specify ... I have seen a good movie recently. (...lately? ...of late?) Only "recently". It would be okay though to say: I've seen several good movies recently/lately/of late. 4) I saw

Is it possible to explain the difference between these three adverbs? My first impression was that they mean the same, but clearly there are some differences in usage. If that is difficult, maybe it is possible to specify whether these are

I understand that "until" and "before" usually denote different concepts. ... long (will it be) until we get to New York? There is no practical difference in meaning or formality. I imagine there are regional differences in

Is there anything wrong with the following sentence? "He said he did it for fun." Or should it be written as: "He said he had done it for fun"? There is nothing wrong with either, but they signify or may signify different

"Kermit" (Email Removed) wrote on 20 Nov 2003: The backshifting rule allows for exceptions, but you would have to give examples of comlex rather than compound sentences to see how it works. 1. You are not allowed to enter here unless you