Could there ever be a use for present simple in main and past perfect in subordinate? Yes, as BillJ illustrated above. In that case the reference point in the past is implied. I think that (at that time in the past) I had (already) selected

But can we use the past perfect to describe just one action that happened in the past?-- No, not without some contextual reference to another past event: Rodel had been driving 120 miles per hour for thirty minutes when he hit the tree. And how

Throughout the book this author uses the present tense, and that's fine (Although a lot of novels use the past tense, some use the present as this one) Now, what's perplexing me is she uses the past perfect without a point of reference in

Yes, "ever" works as an intensifier in the perfect environment. When you refer to a past event, keep in mind that you must keep the reference to time in order. If you went to a concert last week and you now try to talk about the

I'm glad this could be of help, English 1b3! The discussion I read on conditionals doesn't mention that the second conditional can refer to the present as well as the future??? Let me suggest a classification of conditional clauses that

1. I' m travelling to london next week. PRESENT CONTINUOUS - FUTURE okay 2. If I had run faster, I would have won the race. PAST PERFECT - PAST okay 3. We' re off to the cinema later. PRESENT SIMPLE - FUTURE okay 4. Fifteen

Joe left the house, but before he had reached the place, his wife called him to call John. When he got to the place, he used a public phone nearby to call John. ... Your examples would be easier to deal with if you used fewer generic words like

Hi I am just struggling with my last 6 questions could somone please look over them and tell me if I am ok or not. Please look through the following sentences and firstly state which TENSE is being used (please concentrate on the

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

As soon as you see her, you say: Finally! I've been waiting so long! You use the present tense because there is no reason to use the past perfect unless there is a past reference point. The reference point is the moment she arrived, which can